21st Century Grammar Handbook

supplementary and not particularly germane to the overall sense being conveyed.
Parenthetical expressions work di erently with punctuation, depending in part on the independence of the thought they enclose. If a full sentence is within parentheses, all its punctuation is also within the parentheses, including—and especially—the end punctuation, whether period, question mark, or any other ending mark You better believe that!)”
When parentheses enclose phrases, clauses, or even whole sentences within other sentences, the parenthetical expressions are treated as words in themselves that end with the last parenthesis. All punctuation required by the sentence outside the parentheses falls just there—outside the parentheses The train (the 7:42 from
Trenton, which is always late, slowly approaching the platform, made its way into the station In the example a comma follows the last parenthesis because it is needed to set o the following nonrestrictive phrase. Had the example required a
semicolon to mark the end of an independent clause, say, or a colon to introduce a
list, or a period to mark the end of the sentence, all these marks would have fallen properly outside the parentheses.
The same rule applies to any quotation marks if the parenthetical expression is being quoted. If the quote ends before or begins after the matter enclosed in parentheses, then the quotes would not enclose the parenthetical matter Hi (sort of he said ironically But Hi he said (ironically I thought In the rst example the parenthetical phrase is part of the quoted speech and is within the parentheses.
In the second example the parenthetical clause is within the double quotation marks of the example itself but not part of quoted speech and therefore outside the single quotes that mark it.
Parenthetical expressions within sentences may have any internal punctuation needed to make them grammatical and understandable. Thus the example about the train could have read The train (the 7:42 from Trenton, which is always late!),
slowly approached. …” Similarly, the enclosed matter can include quotation marks independent of or related to what is being quoted in the main sentence Hi he said
(‘irony?’ I wondered Here the parenthetical phrase includes an internal quotation and question mark. If this sort of sentence leads to a pileup of punctuation around a parenthesis, it is best to revise rather than expect a reader to figure it all out Hi (or should it be Howdy, he wondered The example can be followed, but why ask that much of a reader See revision.
Capitalization rules also vary with the extent of material enclosed in parentheses:
full sentences fully set o by parentheses begin with capital letters, but full sentences within other sentences and inside parentheses normally do not capitalize the rst word She spoke so naturally (and she spoke with care and point, so calmly, that I felt relieved. (False comfort, it later proved Although there is an end punctuation mark shown for the sentence that is in parentheses but not capitalized,
no end punctuation need be shown for such sentences set o within a sentence. The

second sentence, fully enclosed in parentheses and not within a larger sentence,
must have end punctuation within the parentheses and must be capitalized.
Parentheses need not come in pairs. They can be used singly to set oi numbersi in a list when the numbers begin anew line Here are the main points) …
2) If a numbered list is wholly within text and lines don’t begin with numbers, it is better to use both parentheses Here are the main points (1) …, (2). …” Numbered lists like the rst example are better without the rst parenthesis because the number is more visible.
Should it become necessary to set o material within a parenthetical aside or addition to a sentence, do so in brackets’. The substance (a carbonic compound [C-
N] is volatile Another level of enclosure within brackets returns to parentheses.
Unless you are writing high science, it is usually best to revise a sentence that gets so complex, moving main sentence and parenthetical additions to it into two or more
subordinated statements without parentheses-brackets-parentheses alternations that become hard to follow.

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