def pad_word(start_index: int, word: str, max_length: int, pad_symbol = '.'):
    """
    >>> pad_word(1, 'foo', 5)
    '.foo.'
    >>> pad_word(2, 'foo', 5)
    '..foo'
    """
    return pad_symbol * start_index + word + pad_symbol * (max_length - start_index - len(word))