Impala Reserved Words

The following are the reserved words for the current release of Impala. A reserved word is one that cannot be used directly as an identifier; you must quote it with backticks. For example, a statement CREATE TABLE select (x INT) fails, while CREATE TABLE `select` (x INT) succeeds. Impala does not reserve the names of aggregate or scalar built-in functions. (Formerly, Impala did reserve the names of some aggregate functions.)

Because different database systems have different sets of reserved words, and the reserved words change from release to release, carefully consider database, table, and column names to ensure maximum compatibility between products and versions.

Because you might switch between Impala and Hive when doing analytics and ETL, also consider whether your object names are the same as any Hive keywords, and rename or quote any that conflict. Consult the list of Hive keywords.

add
aggregate
all
alter
analytic
and
anti
api_version
as
asc
avro
between
bigint
binary
boolean
by
cached
case
cast
change
char
class
close_fn
column
columns
comment
compute
create
cross
current
data
database
databases
date
datetime
decimal
delimited
desc
describe
distinct
div
double
drop
else
end
escaped
exists
explain
external
false
fields
fileformat
finalize_fn
first
float
following
for
format
formatted
from
full
function
functions
grant
group
having
if
in
incremental
init_fn
inner
inpath
insert
int
integer
intermediate
interval
into
invalidate
is
join
last
left
like
limit
lines
load
location
merge_fn
metadata
not
null
nulls
offset
on
or
order
outer
over
overwrite
parquet
parquetfile
partition
partitioned
partitions
preceding
prepare_fn
produced
range
rcfile
real
refresh
regexp
rename
replace
returns
revoke
right
rlike
role
roles
row
rows
schema
schemas
select
semi
sequencefile
serdeproperties
serialize_fn
set
show
smallint
stats
stored
straight_join
string
symbol
table
tables
tblproperties
terminated
textfile
then
timestamp
tinyint
to
true
unbounded
uncached
union
update_fn
use
using
values
varchar
view
when
where
with