(When a complete sentence is enclosed in parentheses, place punctuation in the sentence inside the parentheses, like this.) If only part of a sentence is enclosed in parentheses (like this), place punctuation outside the parentheses (like this).
Parentheses
- Use parentheses around nonessential information or abrupt changes in thought.
- If the information in parentheses requires a question mark or an exclamation mark, use the mark inside the parentheses only if the sentence ends with a different mark.
- Use parentheses to clarify preceding words.
Parentheses are punctuation marks that are used to set off information within a text or paragraph. Brackets, sometimes called square brackets, are most often used to show that words have been added to a direct quotation.
The period is a strong punctuation mark—think of it as controlling the action in the sentence, which occurs outside the parentheses. 2. When a whole sentence falls inside parentheses, the period goes inside.
Commas (Eight Basic Uses)
- Use a comma to separate independent clauses.
- Use a comma after an introductory clause or phrase.
- Use a comma between all items in a series.
- Use commas to set off nonrestrictive clauses.
- Use a comma to set off appositives.
- Use a comma to indicate direct address.
- Use commas to set off direct quotations.
Commas may be placed after the closing parenthesis but not before either the opening or the closing parenthesis. If the sentence would not require any commas if the parentheses were removed, the sentence should not have any commas when the parentheses are present.
Do not use a double enclosure or back-to-back parentheses. Correct: Gender differences may reflect underlying continuous attributes, such as personality (e.g., communion and agency; Spence & Helmreich, 1978).
If a question mark applies to the parenthetical information, place the question mark inside the parentheses: When the question applies to the whole sentence, put it outside the parentheses: Will the chicken cross the road again tomorrow (April 1)?
The primary function of quotation marks is to set off and represent exact language (either spoken or written) that has come from somebody else. The quotation mark is also used to designate speech acts in fiction and sometimes poetry.
Quotation marks can be double ("") or single ('') - that is really a matter of style (but see below for more about this). Quotation marks are also called "quotes" or "inverted commas". 1.
The Telegraph style guide advises simply that quotes introduced with a colon end with the full stop inside the quotation mark: "Like this." Quotes without a colon end with the quotation mark inside the full stop, "like this".
In cases when a question mark is used, there is no need to use a comma as well; instead, the attributive tag should come immediately after the closing quotation marks. Consider the example below: “Do you want to come to the movies with us ?”, Mary asked. “Do you want to come to the movies with us ?” Mary asked.
The punctuation marks are: period, comma, question mark, hyphen, dash, parentheses, apostrophe, ellipsis, quotation mark, colon, semicolon, exclamation point. The student then writes down the punctuation marks and an example for each.
Semicolons and colons are always placed outside the closing quotation marks, unless they are part of the direct quotation. ex. Jim promised, "I will cut the grass, dad"; however, that was three weeks ago.
The MLA Handbook notes, “By convention, commas and periods that directly follow quotations go inside the closing quotation marks” (88). Thus, in the following sentence, the comma is placed after taught: “You've got to be carefully taught,” wrote Oscar Hammerstein II.
