# How to destructure an object to an already defined variable

> Learn how to destructure an object into already declared variables in JavaScript using the parentheses assignment syntax, with a leading semicolon for safety.

Author: [Flavio Copes](https://flaviocopes.com/about/) | Published: 2023-10-28 | Topics: [JavaScript](https://flaviocopes.com/tags/js/) | Canonical: https://flaviocopes.com/how-to-destructure-an-object-to-an-already-defined-variable/

I had the need to assign the result of a function call to a variable already defined. The function returned an object:

```javascript
function test() {
	return {
		one: 1,
		two: 2
	}
}
```

I thought I'll just use object destructing, like this:

```javascript
const { one, two } = test()
```

But I had `two` already defined in my code (because of scoping issues) and I couldn't redeclare it:

```javascript
let two

//...

const { one, two } = test() //ERROR
```

Simple way would be to have

```javascript
const result = test()

two = result.two
const { one } = result
```

Or, I could also declare `one` as `let` and use this syntax with parentheses (adding `;` before them to prevent JS to freak out because I don't use semicolons, any line starting with `(` must start with a semicolon, simple rule)

```javascript
let one, two

;({ one, two } = test())
```