If parentheses are used around an area code, they are also static (though today most writers omit parentheses around area codes). b. They give the following commentary about this: Two periods are required—one for the abbreviation etc. The final period or comma goes inside the quotation marks, even if it is not a part of the quoted material, unless the quotation is followed by a citation. In sentence 2, we need a comma after the introductory clause “Although the director had just hired two new employees (Johnson and Carlisle),” but since that clause ends with a parenthetical expression, the comma should come outside the closing parenthesis rather than inside: Although the director had just hired two new employees (Johnson and Carlisle), she decided to attend the job fair to circulate information about the company.

Definitions Creative Commons Attribution-4.0 International License. Copyright 2001 Get It Write. (Squiggly likes sweets.). How we cite information also depends on the source media (e.g., television shows, essays, books, dictionaries, websites, etc.). If it is, the sentence must be recast. Whatever the material inside the parentheses, it must not be grammatically integral to the surrounding sentence. Copyright © 2020 Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC. For example, we never use a comma before an opening parenthesis, but we can use a comma after the closing parenthesis when necessary. 5. Place periods inside of the parentheses when parenthetical material consists of a complete sentence. (Place a period before the closing parenthesis if the material inside is a complete sentence.) If material in parentheses ends a sentence, the period goes after the parentheses.

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If the words inside the parentheses aren't a complete sentence, the period, question mark, or exclamation point that ends the sentence goes after the parenthesis: Could Aardvark bring home candy (quickly)? (APA, 2020, p. 272) Reference Because they are so jarring to the reader, parentheses should be avoided whenever possible. The MLA Handbook notes, “By convention, commas and periods that directly follow quotations go inside the closing quotation marks” (88). a. For example. For standard abbreviations, such as “pacific time zone,” enclose “PT” with parentheses when necessary. However, we can also use parentheses to clarify terminology or provide formal, scientific names. For this particular example, it’s correct to treat parenthetical material as an independent clause and use a period inside the brackets. CMOS gives the following example (17th ed, 6.13: Periods in relation to parentheses and brackets): His chilly demeanor gave him an affinity for the noble gases (helium, neon, etc.). And even though the parenthetical element in number 3 is a complete sentence, we do not use a capital letter at the beginning or a period at the end because the element is placed within another complete sentence.

8th ed.

Example Hotel rooms are likely to …

], The committee has been meeting every day for the past three weeks (excluding weekends, of course), but we still have not been able to resolve the problem.
Lawful purposes The Business shall note the appropriate lawful basis in the Register of Systems. Data Protection Policy However, using parentheses in this manner is somewhat uncommon for formal writing. Place a period outside a closing parenthesis if the material inside is not a sentence (such as this fragment). 7.
Sometimes they go inside; sometimes they go outside. Although they are quite handy for these important emoticons, they serve an important function in formal writing, as well. When a complete sentence occurs in parentheses in the middle of a larger sentence, it should neither be capitalized nor end with a period⁠—though a question mark or exclamation point is acceptable. After all, most communication takes place in reports, emails, and instant messages. d. Appropriate back-up and disaster recovery solutions shall be in place. The only exception for terminal punctuations occurs when a sentence ends with a formal abbreviation or special character. If removing a parenthetical note changes the meaning of the sentence, it should not be in parentheses. Direct quote from one page: (Surname, 2020, p. 201). If a sentence ends with a parenthetical that is only part of a larger sentence, the period is placed outside the closing parenthesis. CC BY 2.0.