my @add; for my $arr (@tmp_container) { if( @{$arr->[0]} > 2 ) { my @val1 = @{$arr->[0]}; my @val2 = @{$arr->[1]}; @add=(\@val1,\@val2); } else { unshift( @{$arr}, [ @{$add[0]} ], [ @{$add[1]} ]); } }