Answer: Punctuation with Parentheses

[whymzycal.livejournal.com]

The question is, When using parentheses, where does the punctuation go?



We usually use parentheses to set off nonessential information in a sentence—for example, information that illustrates or gives your reader further explanation, like this:

Come to think of it, the way Gojyo rolled down that slope to land in that snowdrift (on his head and with his butt in the air) was exactly the sort of thing that would happen in a stupid manga.

When the parenthetical information occurs in the middle of a sentence, even if it’s a complete sentence itself, it doesn’t get a capital letter or a terminal period. Exceptions to this rule are if the parentheses contain a question or exclamation, or if the parenthetical information starts with “I” or a proper noun:

Sanzo woke up already grumpy (like that was a surprise?) and immediately started taking out his bad mood on Gojyo.

Gojyo’s favorite brand of cigarettes (Hi-Lites, in case you’ve forgotten) were the next item on Hakkai’s shopping list.

But wait, you say, what if there’s a comma, colon, or semicolon somewhere in the sentence itself, not just in what’s between the parentheses? Where does that go? That’s an excellent question! If the parenthetical information belongs to a part of the sentence that gets set off by a comma, a colon, or a semicolon, we place the punctuation after the parentheses—not before, and not inside.

While Sam was distracting the werewolf (with a 12-ounce steak in one hand and a gun in the other), Dean slipped into the cabin to rescue the fainting fangirl.

The same goes for parenthetical material coming at the end of a sentence: the terminal period for the sentence goes outside the parentheses.

All in all, Dean had to admit, it had been a pretty good hunt (even with the fainting fangirl).

Even when it’s coming at the end of the sentence, the only time the parenthetical information gets its own end punctuation is if the punctuation is a question mark or exclamation point. This is the same as when a parenthetical question or exclamation happens in the middle of a sentence.

That had been, Dean thought to himself as the smile spread across his face, the best hunt ever (because damn, that barmaid had been hot!).

Finally, if the information in your parentheses is an entire sentence on its own (not part of another sentence), it gets its very own end punctuation. And a capital!

Rubeus Hagrid was the largest man Harry had ever seen. (He was also the kindest.)

So to make a generalization, the material in parentheses doesn’t get terminal punctuation. (The two exceptions to this rule are the example above and questions/exclamations.) And when the parenthetical information belongs to part of a sentence set off by a comma, colon, or semicolon, the punctuation goes outside the parentheses.

Oh, and one last thing—it’s interesting to note that unlike many of the other rules for grammar and punctuation, these particular rules seem to hold true for both American and British English (and therefore presumably for Australian and Canadian English as well).



Sources

The Pocket Wadsworth Handbook by Kirszner and Mandell
Guide to Grammar and Writing: Parentheses
Using Periods, Commas, Colons, and Semicolons with Parentheses at the AB Longman website

Comments

[whymzycal.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I hope it proves to be useful.

[jekesta]

Brilliant, thank you. I have been meaning to work out commas and brackets for FOREVER but somehow never got round to looking them up.

[whymzycal.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[perdiccas.livejournal.com]

Great write up! Thank you.

[whymzycal.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And you're totally welcome.

[akuni.livejournal.com]

IANAE, but in my experience these rules do apply on the Canadian front as well.

Thx info! :) I love this comm more than any sane person really should...

[whymzycal.livejournal.com]

That's good to know; thank you for telling me!

Grammar is awesome.

[alethiaxx.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this post. I didn't know about the question/exclamation mark exception.

[whymzycal.livejournal.com]

You're most welcome.

[haldoor.livejournal.com]

Thank you! FYI, this seems to hold true in NZ as well!

[whymzycal.livejournal.com]

It does? Thanks; that's good to know! So often the rules are a little bit different depending on which English we're talking about, so it's nice to know for sure.