18 Parentheses
18
Parentheses and Brackets
Parentheses
Parentheses—( )—are used to separate nonessential information from the rest of a sentence or paragraph.
18a Use parentheses to add words, phrases, or sentences that expand on, clarify, or explain material that precedes or follows
Be sure to use parentheses sparingly; they can clutter your writing.
18b Use parentheses to insert dates or abbreviations
18c Check the placement of other punctuation used with parentheses
Parenthetical information that appears at the end of a sentence should be inserted before the period that ends the sentence.
When parenthetical information appears after a word that would be followed by a comma, the comma is always placed after the closing parenthesis.
When a complete sentence appears within parentheses, punctuate the sentence as you would normally.
Exception: If the material within the parentheses is a question, it should end with a question mark.
Brackets
Brackets ([ ]) are used within quotations and within parentheses.
18d Use brackets to add information or indicate changes you have made to a quotation
The explanation tells where here is.
The bracketed name replaces her in the original.
Use brackets to enclose the word sic when signaling an error in original quoted material.
The Latin word sic lets your readers know that the misspelled word or other error in the quoted material is the original author’s error, not yours.
18e Use brackets to enclose parenthetical material in a group of words already enclosed in parentheses
