Brackets and full stops seem to be a constant issue when I’m proofreading.
Put the full stop INSIDE the brackets when the words in brackets make a full sentence. Put the full stop OUTSIDE the brackets when the words in brackets are part of a sentence.
Example 1 – Add the sage last to preserve the flavour. (Fresh sage is best but dried will do fine.)
Example 2 – Add the sage last to preserve the flavour (fresh preferably, dried will do).
Which one is correct .
The town is ten miles (16 kilometres away.)
The town is ten miles (16 kilometres away).
I’m so sorry, Helen. I’ve only just seen your comment.
The second one is correct as the words in brackets are part of the sentence.
Neither is correct! The “away” should be outside the brackets since it refers to the main sentence, not just the information in brackets.
Gosh! You’re right. I was so focused on the 16 kilometres, I missed the significance of ‘away’! It should indeed be “The town is ten miles (16 kilometres) away.” Thank you.
Gosh! You’re right. I was so focused on the 16 kilometres, I missed the significance of ‘away’! It should indeed be “The town is ten miles (16 kilometres) away.” Thank you.
Grace (below) has spotted my mistake. 🙂 I was so focused on the 16 kilometres, I missed the significance of ‘away’! It should indeed be “The town is ten miles (16 kilometres) away.”
You’re welcome! Very easily done but I couldn’t pass by without mentioning. Thanks!
I am very grateful. 🙂
What about if the words inside the brackets make up a sentence within themselves. For example: ‘After this essay (I have 400 words left in order to complete it), I will finally finish university!’
Although not the best example, would the punctuation come AFTER the brackets being that the clause inside the brackets is a part of the overall sentence?
Good question, Hank. Your example is absolutely correct. The words in brackets provide additional information to the sentence that, in essence, reads: “After this essay, I will finally finish university.” While the words in brackets could be a sentence in their own right, you’ve used them as an additional clause. If you’d written the words in brackets afterwards, you would have needed a full stop inside the brackets. ” “After this essay, I will finally finish university. (I have 400 words left in order to complete it.)”
Best wishes, Lorraine
Please, which one is correct ?
…He is co-founder of Anonymous (visit Wikipedia for more information).
or
…He is co-founder of Anonymous (visit Wikipedia for more information.)
P.S.: I mean that visit Wikipedia for more information about Anonymous group.
Thanks.
Hi Leo
The first one is correct. The second is wrong. 😊
However, I’d write:
He is co-founder of Anonymous. (Visit Wikipedia for more information.)
I’d treat them as two separate sentences. Or, if the copy was online, I’d have a link to the Wikipedia reference on the word Anonymous and not say ‘visit…’.
Best wishes
Lorraine
Is anyone the wiser with any of this?
Hopefully, yes. Otherwise, I’ve failed miserably. 😄
will it not appear odd to end one independent bracketed sentence with a full stop and then bracket without the subsequent sentence seeming to be stemming from the bracketed text? with the full stop outside the bracket it makes the subsequent sentence very clearly identified as ‘new’.
for example:
john was hiding in the bushes. (He did not want to be seen with the cigarette.) Although it may have been too late to fumigate himself before class, he’d go anyway.
vs
john was hiding in the bushes. (He did not want to be seen with the cigarette). Although it may have been too late to fumigate himself before class, he’d go anyway.
the second example although incorrect, seems to me to read a lot better as 3 clear and distinct statements, whereas in the first example, the bracketed sentence seems to latch itself into the ‘subsequent’ sentence because finishing with a bracket makes it seem part of the next sentence.
very long winded way of saying the full stop never seems right inside the bracket to me.
….makes me feel like I’ve put my bare foot in my shoe, and then put a sock over the shoe.
….makes me feel like I’ve put my bare foot in my shoe, and then put a sock over the shoe.
Thanks for your comments, Lotfi. You make a good point. To be grammatically correct, your second example would need to read “John was hiding in the bushes (he did not want to be seen with the cigarette). Although it may have been too late to fumigate himself before class, he’d go anyway.” Best wishes, Lorraine
“John was hiding in the bushes, as he did not want to be seen with the cigarette. Although it may have been too late to fumigate himself before class, he’d go anyway.”
The clunkiness is being caused by using brackets unnecessarily, when they are not your best option to get the meaning over.
Thanks for your comment, Trevor. I agree. But I was replying to a request on the use of brackets. 😁
Yes, absolutely Clifford. Thank you, Lorraine. Grammatical errors infuriate. So this really helped me correct the punctuation errors in my essays.
Thank you Katja. I hope you find my other grammar tips useful, too.
If I do abbreviation in my writing, I put fullstop and how shall I do if there is need of either colon or semi-colon at once?
Thank you.
This chat is so wholesome. After 21 years of education, I finally learned the correct usage of brackets with full stop. Thanks Lorraine and Grace.
Thank you Angana. It’s amazing how much interest this post has generated! I’m glad we’ve helped.
John was hiding in the bushes (as he did not want to be seen with a cigarette) and although it may have been too late to fumigate himself before class, he’d go anyway.
Wouldn’t this be better?
Yes. Your sentence reads well. The other example was being used to demonstrate how to punctuate in and outside of brackets. 😊
Please help, which is correct
He likes fruit (apples, bananas, grapes etc.)
Or
He likes fruit (apples, bananas, grapes etc.).
For the person who asked: which is correct
He likes fruit (apples, bananas, grapes etc.)
Or
He likes fruit (apples, bananas, grapes etc.). It depends if these statements are within a sentence or are the complete sentence. If they’re sentences in their own right, the second is correct. Although, I’d add a comma after ‘grapes’.
Which one is incorrect?
He went to the park {after his lunch.}
OR
He went to the park {after his lunch.}
Hi Amelie
He went to the park (after his lunch).
Best wishes
Lorraine
The second example is correct. The first full stop signifies the abbreviation of etcetera so belongs within the brackets. The second full stop signifies the end of the sentence. As they both serve separate purposes they should both be present.
Thank you Martin for your comment today. You’re absolutely right when you say “He likes fruit (apples, bananas, grapes etc.).” is correct. The first full stop signifies the abbreviation of etcetera so belongs within the brackets. The second full stop signifies the end of the sentence. As they both serve separate purposes they should both be present.
Which of the following is correct punctuation?
“With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children. (line one)”
“With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children (line one).”
“With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children (Line one).”
P.S This is urgent and for an essay.
Thanks for question
I wouldn’t put a full stop in any of those as they are not complete sentences.
I’d write “With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children (line one)”
But it is difficult to know for sure as I’m only seeing one part out of context.
Sorry, I meant to write:
“With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children” (line one)
Thanks, Lorraine, you’re very quick to reply!😀
Here is it in some more context:
This notion is illustrated using metaphors in the first stanza, “Quote here” England is personified as the mother of her metaphorical children, making connotations to a person who is caring of their children, and they would die for her.
I’m wondering if this extra context makes it clearer and whether a full stop would be used in this specific context.
In which case, I would write:
This notion is illustrated using metaphors in the first stanza, “With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,” (line one). England is personified as the mother of her metaphorical children, making connotations to a person who is caring of their children, and they would die for her.
The full stop after (line one) now makes perfect sense.
‘Do you think we could be friends?’
This appear to me as a complete grammatical sentence, thus, I understand that the closing inverted comma should be placed inside the ? and not outside as done above. However, it looks wrong to place it inside. What is correct?
I am hoping you will say that the question mark is part of the grammatical sentence. Hence, the closing ‘ should be placed outside. That makes both sense and looks right. Just need to be sure
Hi Sofia,
This post refers to brackets – but the rules would be the same if it referred to question marks. A question mark (and an exclamation mark) are both forms of full stops.
So I could write:
Do I add the sage (fresh or dried) last?
Do I add the sage last? (Sage can be fresh or dried.)
Your example is right:
Do you think we could be friends?
Do you think we (Tom and I, that is) could be friends?
I hope this helps.
Lorraine
What about in a couple of sentences?
‘Sage is a nice addition to a salad. (But never put sage with chicken.) Tomato and sage are exquisite as well.’
Perfectly punctuated, Mryla. 😊
Hi, Please help with this this example:
The distinction is not always easy to make. (Adapted from Europe-an Commission External Cooperation Programmes Manual on Results Oriented Monitoring Exercises, 2013.).
Should the last full stop be there? The text is the end of a bullet point (made up of multiple sentences) and followed by more bullet points. Thanks!
Thanks for your query. I wouldn’t put a full stop after 2013 inside the brackets as “Adapted from… 2013” is not a sentence. And I wouldn’t put a full stop outside of the brackets as you already have a full stop after “…to make.”
I would write it as:
The distinction is not always easy to make. (Adapted from Europe-an Commission External Cooperation Programmes Manual on Results Oriented Monitoring Exercises, 2013)
I hope this helps.
Best wishes, Lorraine