I have following dictionary: original = {a:1, b:2} I then run dict comprehension: extracted = {k:v for (k,v) in original.items() if k == 'a'} The following dict is returned: {a:1} If I mutate extracted['a'] = 2 , original['a'] will still be equal to 1 Question: Is there a way to make the above dict comprehension return by reference? For example extracted['a'] = 2 would result in original['a'] = 2 . I would prefer not to involve alteration of the original dictionary.

Make dict comprehension return by reference

I have following dictionary: original = {a:1, b:2}
I then run dict comprehension: extracted = {k:v for (k,v) in original.items() if k == 'a'}
The following dict is returned: {a:1}
If I mutate extracted['a'] = 2, original['a'] will still be equal to 1

Is there a way to make the above dict comprehension return by reference? For example extracted['a'] = 2 would result in original['a'] = 2.

I would prefer not to involve alteration of the original dictionary.