LoginBrackets, Braces, and Parentheses
In this lesson you will learn how to use brackets, braces, and parentheses to clarify or organize sentences. Practice with helpful examples and exercises.
What Are Brackets?
Brackets are punctuation marks that are used to enclose words, phrases, or information that is added to a sentence. There are four different types of brackets: [ ] are called square brackets, { } are called curly brackets or braces, < > are called angle brackets, and ( ) are round brackets or parentheses.
Square Brackets: Functions
Square brackets [ ] can be used for the following purposes:
- to add ideas to an original text
- for clarification
- to add extra information
- to indicate words that have been left out or misspelled
- to add information within parentheses
To Add Idea to an Original Text
Brackets can let you add your ideas or opinions to the original text. For example:
She
Here, the writer has not mentioned the information. This was added by another person.
We need the house
For clarification
Let's go through an example for this one:
She
We make it clear in the brackets who is meant by "she".
Pinocchio
To add extra information
When we want to add extra information about something in our sentence we can use brackets, for example:
All the ingredients
He was going to order his favorite sandwich
To Indicate Words That Have Been Left Out or Misspelled
When a word is misspelled or omitted by the writer, we can use brackets to correct it. For instance:
She has
The "a" was left out from the sentence.
I want to leave
We use [sic] to show that the writer has misspelled the word, here we know the writer meant to write "live" and not leave.
To Add Information Within Parentheses
Sometimes we want to add information within parentheses, we can use brackets.
The boxes contain all my stuff (my shoes, my dresses
It (World's Health Organization
Parentheses: Functions
Parentheses usually contain extra information that is not essential to the sentence. Thus, the sentence should still make sense if we omit the parentheses. Also, keep in mind that we are not allowed to put more than one paragraph inside parentheses. Let's check some other functions of parentheses:
- to give more information
- to show personal opinions/comments
- for abbreviation
- to set off numbers and letters
- to give options
- in academic papers
To Give More Information
Using parentheses to give more information
We can give information inside parentheses. This piece of information can either be important or extra information. Omitting this information should not change the meaning of our sentence. These are the examples:
The doctors did what was possible
We spent the whole night in a camping tent
To Show Personal Opinions/Comments
We can use parentheses to express our opinions or ideas without changing the original text.
Most people like to go for a jog in the mornings
He said he will stop chasing his dream
For Abbreviations
We can use parentheses to give the full form of the abbreviation or vice versa:
The UN
He said visiting New York city
To Set Off Numbers and Letters
When listing items, we usually use numbers or letters to separate the items. In this case, they are put inside parentheses. Here are a few examples:
Remember to take:
The reasons why Andy loves Mary so much:
Warning
Both brackets and parentheses can be used to give additional information. The only difference between them is that when we use brackets there is almost always an indirect or direct speech. But when we use parentheses there is a piece of general information. For example:
Sarah said she would talk to Mr. Johnson
There were fifteen dead people
To Give Options
We can use parentheses to indicate that the word can be singular or plural.
Keep your shoe
In Academic Papers
We can also use parentheses to cite our sources in academic papers.
This issue is very common in the discipline
Braces: Functions
Braces are usually used in mathematics and science. They can also fulfill the function of brackets and parentheses but this is not common. They are usually used with the name of substances or with numbers. Here are the examples:
2{1 + [32 + 3]}
2
Here are some other functions of braces:
- making lists of options
Which one would you like to eat {ice cream, pizza, bread and cheese or rice}?
- to make a list of chords in music
- to make a list of numbers and sets in math
Angle brackets: Functions
Angle brackets < > are sometimes called chevrons. This punctuation is rarely used in writing. We can find them mostly in mathematics or computer programming.
What do they do?
In some languages, this punctuation is used instead of quotation marks. In English, they are used to set aside information (although most writers use parentheses for this purpose), introduce websites, or when something is spoken in a foreign language. We should know that these are used very rarely even in informal writings.
- Set aside information
My dog is drowning again <<I don't know why it keeps jumping in the pool>>.
Writers use double pair of angle brackets to set aside information.
- In comic books they are used to show that a foreign language is being spoken
- To introduce websites
For more information, you can read the article in <www.langeek.co>
Review
Brackets are categorized into four groups.
- square brackets [ ]
- curly brackets or braces { }
- round bracket or parentheses ( )
- angle brackets < >
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