Property Paths

Understanding Property Paths

Property paths extend basic triple patterns with operators for sequences (/), alternatives (|), repetition (* + ?), and inversion (^). They're powerful for traversing hierarchies, following chains, and matching flexible patterns.

Alternative Paths (|)

SELECT ?item ?itemLabel ?typeLabel
WHERE {
  ?item (wdt:P31|wdt:P279) wd:Q7889 .
  ?item (wdt:P31|wdt:P279) ?type .
  SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en". }
}
LIMIT 20

The pipe operator (|) matches either property. This common pattern finds items that are instances of or subclasses of video games, treating both direct instances and subclasses alike.

Sequence Paths (/)

SELECT ?person ?personLabel ?countryLabel
WHERE {
  ?person wdt:P31 wd:Q5 ;
          wdt:P19/wdt:P17 ?country .
  SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en". }
}
LIMIT 20

The slash (/) chains properties together. Instead of separate patterns for birth place and its country, this follows place of birth (P19) then country (P17) in a single expression.

Repetition Paths (* + ?)

SELECT DISTINCT ?class ?classLabel
WHERE {
  wd:Q146 wdt:P31/wdt:P279* ?class .
  SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en". }
}

The asterisk (*) means "zero or more times". This finds the type of house cat, then follows the subclass-of chain (P279) upward to find all ancestor classes: cat → felid → carnivore → mammal → animal → organism.

SELECT DISTINCT ?ancestor ?ancestorLabel
WHERE {
  wd:Q9682 wdt:P40+ ?ancestor .
  SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en". }
}

The plus (+) means "one or more times". This follows the child (P40) relationship recursively to find all descendants. Use + when you need at least one step; use * when zero steps (the starting point) is acceptable.

Inverse Paths (^)

SELECT ?parent ?parentLabel
WHERE {
  wd:Q9682 ^wdt:P40 ?parent .
  SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en". }
}

The caret (^) inverts a property direction. While P40 means "has child", ^P40 means "is child of", effectively finding parents. This is useful when the property points the opposite direction from what you need.

Key Entities Used in Examples