A "variable word" "w"("x") over "W""n""H" still has length "H" but includes the special element "x" in place of at least one of the letters. The words "w"(1), "w"(2), ..., "w"("n") obtained by replacing all instances of the special element "x" with 1, 2, ..., "n", form a combinatorial line in the space "W""n""H"; combinatorial lines correspond to rows, columns, and (some of the) diagonals of the hypercube. The Hales–Jewett theorem then states that for given positive integers "n" and "c", there exists a positive integer "H", depending on "n" and "c", such that for any partition of "W""n""H" into "c" parts, there is at least one part that contains an entire combinatorial line.