Type in expressions to have them evaluated. Type :help for more information. scala> def foo[T]{ import scala.reflect.runtime.universe._ val tt = implicitly[WeakTypeTag[List[T]]] println(tt) } :9: free type: Ident(TypeName("T")) defined by foo in :7:16 val tt = implicitly[WeakTypeTag[List[T]]] ^ foo: [T]=> Unit scala> foo[Int] WeakTypeTag[scala.List[T]] scala> :quit