Which bracket to use

There are a few different types of symbols that can technically be considered brackets. Each pair of marks has its own rules for academic use.

Outside of academic writing , they may all be interchangeable with few repercussions. The most commonly used bracket pair in English is the parentheses. This pair of round brackets is used when a writer wants to add information to a sentence that will give greater detail to the information presented. However, the information is extra, which means it can be removed without damaging the original information. Items placed in parentheses can often be set off with commas instead.

Check out these sentence examples using parentheses:. In this sentence, the information in parentheses gives additional information about George Washington. In this sentence, the information in parentheses explains what NASA stands for and gives additional information about the Mars probe. Task representations can sometimes differ between student and instructor Flower, and even from novice student to more experienced student.

In this sentence, the information in parentheses is a citation for a book written in APA format. Similar types of line references are used in other citation systems as well. Angled brackets have very limited use in writing and are obsolete in modern writing. Fishman, Stephen M. John Dewey and the Challenge of Classroom Practice.

The Practitioner Inquiry Series. But unlike curly brackets, you may actually encounter them when reading outside of those disciplines, although not with any type of frequency. Angle brackets may occur in linguistics. Sometimes, although not often, angle brackets are used to indicate internal thought.

Todd handed me a flower. I took a sniff. Angle brackets are used frequently in comic books to denote someone speaking in another language. Double angle brackets are sometimes used in lieu of quotation marks.

They are also used in computer-mediated communication to indicate an action or status. It's important not to overuse brackets or rely on them too heavily. Some writers use brackets in place of commas. Others think the whole problem of brackets is better left alone.

But you can't avoid problems forever. At some point, you may have to use brackets or you may encounter them in your research, in which case, we hope this article has helped. If you're still unsure about how and when to use brackets, you can always send your writing to the experts at Scribendi for a thorough, professional proofread.

English is not my first language. I need English editing and proofreading so that I sound like a native speaker. I need to have my journal article, dissertation, or term paper edited and proofread, or I need help with an admissions essay or proposal. I have a novel, manuscript, play, or ebook. I need editing, copy editing, proofreading, a critique of my work, or a query package. I need editing and proofreading for my white papers, reports, manuals, press releases, marketing materials, and other business documents.

I need to have my essay, project, assignment, or term paper edited and proofread. I want to sound professional and to get hired. Everything on Grammar Monster is free. A-Z glossary punctuation A-Z confused words common mistakes ordered by seriousness vocabulary for learners tests and games More free grammar help Twitter Page YouTube Channel. Top Tip Round Brackets Can Look a Little Informal Round brackets look a little informal, and many writers do not like to use them in official correspondence.

To avoid brackets, you can either reword your text or use dashes or commas instead. Parentheses are used after a word to show it is a function. Of note, variables are passed between functions by placing the variables inside the parentheses. In the short program below, we call the function "showMyMessage" and pass it the string "Grammar Monster," which is then assigned to the variable a.

This is then shown in an alert box by Javascript's built-in alert function. Note the use of parentheses with the functions. Square brackets are used for arrays. The short program below shows an alert box with the word "beef" and then one with the word "vegetables.