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pacman defines subcommands via flags.
Here, -S is a short flag subcommand:
$ pacman -S package
Installing package...Here --sync is a long flag subcommand:
$ pacman --sync package
Installing package...Now the short flag subcommand (-S) with a long flag:
$ pacman -S --search name
Searching for name...And the various forms of short flags that work:
$ pacman -S -s name
Searching for name...
$ pacman -Ss name
Searching for name...
(users can "stack" short subcommands with short flags or with other short flag subcommands)
NOTE: Keep in mind that subcommands, flags, and long flags are case sensitive: -Q and -q are different flags/subcommands. For example, you can have both -Q subcommand and -q flag, and they will be properly disambiguated.
Let's make a quick program to illustrate.