Welcome to a beautiful tutorial. This tutorial contains solutions to all types of questions on inserting two tables side by side.
When inserting two or more tables side by side, many kinds of problems have to be faced. For example, how to add captions to the entire environment with subtables? And how to insert two tables of different heights side by side?
In addition to height, you can insert two tables with different widths.
Use minipage environment
As I discussed earlier in Figure, when you insert two float elements side by side, you create two spaces before them. After that insert the tables in this space.
For example, notice the code below where this task is completed by the minipage environment.
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage[margin=1.5cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{xcolor,lipsum,subcaption}
\begin{document}
\pagecolor{red!15}
\lipsum[1][1-8]
\vspace{.5cm}
\begin{minipage}{.4\textwidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
A11 & A12 & A13 & A14 & A15\\
\hline
A21 & A22 & A23 & A24 & A15\\
\hline
A31 & A32 & A33 & A34 & A15\\
\hline
A41 & A42 & A43 & A44 & A15\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\captionof{table}{First Table}
\end{minipage}%
\begin{minipage}{.5\textwidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5\\
\hline
A & B & C & D & F\\
\hline
AA & BB & CC & DD & FF\\
\hline
AAA & BBB & CCC & DDD & FFF\\
\hline
AAAA & BBBB & CCCC & DDDD & FFFF\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\captionof{table}{Second Table}
\end{minipage}
\vspace{.5cm}
\lipsum[2][1-7]
\vspace{.5cm}
\noindent
\begin{minipage}{0.33\textwidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
A11 & A12 & A13 & A14 \\
\hline
A21 & A22 & A23 & A24 \\
\hline
A31 & A32 & A33 & A34 \\
\hline
A41 & A42 & A43 & A44 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\captionof{table}{First Table}
\end{minipage}%
\begin{minipage}{0.33\textwidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
B11 & B12 & B13 & B14 \\
\hline
B21 & B22 & B23 & B24 \\
\hline
B31 & B32 & B33 & B34 \\
\hline
B41 & B42 & B43 & B44 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\captionof{table}{Second Table}
\end{minipage}%
\begin{minipage}{0.33\textwidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
C11 & C12 & C13 & C14 \\
\hline
C21 & C22 & C23 & C24 \\
\hline
C31 & C32 & C33 & C34 \\
\hline
C41 & C42 & C43 & C44 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\captionof{table}{Second Table}
\end{minipage}
\vspace{.5cm}
\lipsum[3][2-8]
\vspace{.5cm}
\noindent
\begin{minipage}{0.25\textwidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
A11 & A12 & A13 \\
\hline
A21 & A22 & A23 \\
\hline
A31 & A32 & A33 \\
\hline
A41 & A42 & A43 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{minipage}%
\begin{minipage}{0.25\textwidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
B11 & B12 & B13 \\
\hline
B21 & B22 & B23 \\
\hline
B31 & B32 & B33 \\
\hline
B41 & B42 & B43 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{minipage}%
\begin{minipage}{0.25\textwidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
C11 & C12 & C13 \\
\hline
C21 & C22 & C23 \\
\hline
C31 & C32 & C33 \\
\hline
C41 & C42 & C43 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{minipage}%
\begin{minipage}{0.25\textwidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
D11 & D12 & D13 \\
\hline
D21 & D22 & D23 \\
\hline
D31 & D32 & D33 \\
\hline
D41 & D42 & D43 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{minipage}
\vspace{.5cm}
\lipsum[3][2-8]
\vspace{.5cm}
\begin{minipage}{.35\textwidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
A11 & A12 & A13 & A14 & A15\\
\hline
A21 & A22 & A23 & A24 & A15\\
\hline
A31 & A32 & A33 & A34 & A15\\
\hline
A41 & A42 & A43 & A44 & A15\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\captionof{table}{First Table}
\end{minipage}%
\begin{minipage}{.60\textwidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
Data11 & Data12 & Data13 & Data14 & Data15 & Data16 \\
\hline
Data21 & Data22 & Data23 & Data24 & Data25 & Data26 \\
\hline
Data31 & Data32 & Data33 & Data34 & Data35 & Data36 \\
\hline
Data41 & Data42 & Data43 & Data44 & Data45 & Data46 \\
\hline
Data51 & Data52 & Data53 & Data54 & Data55 & Data56 \\
\hline
Data61 & Data62 & Data63 & Data64 & Data65 & Data66 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\captionof{table}{Second Table}
\end{minipage}
\end{document}
Output :
To add subcaption, the subcaption package is used which contains \captionof commands. According to the width of table, the width of minipage is unequal, so the error does not show.
In the case of minipage, when two tables of unequal height are inserted side by side, their vertical position will be middle.
Use subtable Environment from subcaption package
Our second method is to use the subtable environment. Its syntax is exactly like minipage. The amount of space reserved for each subtable is defined by the \lenthwidth length variable.
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage[margin=1.5cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{subcaption,xcolor,lipsum}
\begin{document}
\pagecolor{yellow!20}
\lipsum[1][4-9]
\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\begin{subtable}[b]{0.45\linewidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
A11 & A12 & A13 & A14 \\
\hline
A21 & A22 & A23 & A24 \\
\hline
A31 & A32 & A33 & A34 \\
\hline
A41 & A42 & A43 & A44 \\
\hline
A51 & A52 & A53 & A54 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{First Subtable}
\end{subtable}%
\begin{subtable}[b]{0.45\linewidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
A & B & C & D & E\\
\hline
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5\\
\hline
11 & 22 & 33 & 44 & 55\\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{Second Subtable}
\end{subtable}
\caption{Main Table Caption}
\end{table}
\lipsum[3][1-9]
\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\begin{subtable}{0.30\linewidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
A11 & A12 & A13 & A14 \\
\hline
A21 & A22 & A23 & A24 \\
\hline
A31 & A32 & A33 & A34 \\
\hline
A41 & A42 & A43 & A44 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{Subtable A}
\end{subtable}%
\begin{subtable}{0.23\linewidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
B11 & B12 & B13 \\
\hline
B21 & B22 & B23 \\
\hline
B31 & B32 & B33 \\
\hline
B41 & B42 & B43 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{Subtable B}
\end{subtable}%
\begin{subtable}{0.23\linewidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
C11 & C12 & C13 \\
\hline
C21 & C22 & C23 \\
\hline
C31 & C32 & C33 \\
\hline
C41 & C42 & C43 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{Subtable C}
\end{subtable}%
\begin{subtable}{0.23\linewidth}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
D11 & D12 & D13 \\
\hline
D21 & D22 & D23 \\
\hline
D31 & D32 & D33 \\
\hline
D41 & D42 & D43 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{Subtable D}
\end{subtable}
\caption{Main Table with Subtables}
\label{tab:main}
\end{table}
\lipsum[4][1-9]
\end{document}
Output :
For captions, use the subtitle package. And vertically positioned will be the bottom.
Insert sub-tables inside another table
If you want, you can insert two or more tables side by side into one table. For example
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage[margin=1.5cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{subcaption,lipsum,xcolor}
\begin{document}
\pagecolor{lime!15}
\lipsum[1][1-9]
\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{c c}
% First table
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
A & B & C & D \\
\hline
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 \\
\hline
11 & 22 & 33 & 44 \\
\hline
110 & 220 & 330 & 440 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
&
% Second table
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
E & F & G & H \\
\hline
5 & 6 & 7 & 8 \\
\hline
55 & 66 & 77 & 88 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{tabular}
\caption{Side by Side Tables}
\end{table}
\lipsum[2][1-8]
\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{c c c}
% First table
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
A & B & C & D \\
\hline
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 \\
\hline
11 & 22 & 33 & 44 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
&
% Second table
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
E & F & G & H \\
\hline
5 & 6 & 7 & 8 \\
\hline
55 & 66 & 77 & 88 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
&
% Second table
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
I & J & K & L \\
\hline
9 & 10 & 11 & 12 \\
\hline
99 & 110 & 121 & 132 \\
\hline
\end{tabular} \\
table 1 & table 2 & table 3
\end{tabular}
\caption{Side by Side Tables}
\end{table}
\lipsum[3][1-9]
\end{document}
Output :
For the caption, you can define another row below. I think this is not the best method but it is good to know how to place one or more tables within a table.
Best practice
1. This process is very simple, first create space for the float element, then insert the float element into that space.
2. You need to know the concept and usage of length variables like \textwidth and \linewidth. Then it will be very easy for you to insert float elements side by side.
3. minipage approach provides more flexibility in terms of spacing between tables. You can easily adjust the spacing by modifying the width of minipage and using \hfill or other spacing commands.
Conclusion
There are multiple ways to position tables side-by-side in LaTeX. These methods include using minipage environment, subtable environment from subcaption package, or directly within the tabular environment itself.
