+@menu
+* CTABLES Basics::
+@end menu
+
+@node CTABLES Basics
+@subsection Basics
+
+The only required subcommand is @code{TABLE}, which specifies the
+variables to include along each axis:
+@display
+@t{/TABLE} @i{rows} [@t{BY} @i{columns} [@t{BY} @i{layers}]]
+@end display
+@noindent
+In @code{TABLE}, each of @var{rows}, @var{columns}, and @var{layers}
+is either empty or an axis expression that specifies one or more
+variables. An axis expression that names a categorical variable
+divides the data into cells according to the values of that variable.
+When all the variables named on @code{TABLE} are categorical, by
+default each cell displays the number of cases that it contains, so
+specifying a single variable yields a frequency table:
+
+@example
+CTABLES /TABLE=AgeGroup.
+@end example
+@psppoutput {ctables1}
+
+@noindent
+Specifying a row and a column categorical variable yields a
+crosstabulation:
+
+@example
+CTABLES /TABLE=AgeGroup BY qns3a.
+@end example
+@psppoutput {ctables2}
+
+@noindent
+The @samp{>} operator nests multiple variables on a single axis, e.g.:
+
+@example
+CTABLES /TABLE qn105ba BY AgeGroup > qns3a.
+@end example
+@psppoutput {ctables3}
+
+@noindent
+The @samp{+} operator allows a single output table to include multiple
+data analyses. With @samp{+}, @code{CTABLES} divides the output table
+into multiple sections, each of which includes an analysis of the full
+data set. For example, the following command separately tabulates age
+group and driving frequency by gender:
+
+@example
+CTABLES /TABLE AgeGroup + qn1 BY qns3a.
+@end example
+@psppoutput {ctables4}
+
+@noindent
+If @samp{+} and @samp{>} are used together, @samp{>} binds more
+tightly. Use parentheses to override operator precedence. Thus:
+
+@example
+CTABLES /TABLE qn26 + qn27 > qns3a.
+CTABLES /TABLE (qn26 + qn27) > qns3a.
+@end example
+@psppoutput {ctables5}