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    Punctuation Marks: Parentheses and Brackets

    Parentheses

    Parentheses enclose material that is an interruption of the text but adds information.

      • The park (in Washington) is always crowded in summer.
      • I know the answer (I think) to the final question.

    If the material enclosed falls at the end of a sentence, the end mark is placed outside the closing parenthesis. If the material is a complete sentence within itself, the end mark is placed inside the closing parenthesis.

      • We provide a complete list of stores (see our website).
      • We provide a complete list of stores. (See our website.)

    Brackets

    Use brackets to enclose additions to quoted material. These additions, made by editors or writers, usually clarify or comment on the material.

      • “Mark Twain said it [the river] taught him all he ever knew about life.”
      • “Virginia Woolf lived with him [Lytton Strachey] while recovering from her illness.”
      • “There were few Esquimouxs [sic] living in the region we explored.”

    Brackets are also used to enclose material that falls within material already enclosed by parentheses.

      • The fall sales records are encouraging (see page 33, Monthly Sales [Table 2.1] for a detailed breakdown by product line).
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