2021-12-31
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด – B – brackets - parenthesis
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง brackets = ‘BRAC-KEt’
ออกเสียง parenthesis =’pa-REN-thuh-sis’
Dictionary.com
Brackets vs. Parentheses: How to Use Them
Though these symbols — ( ), [ ], { }, and ?
—regularly appear in our books and screens,
they all have odd, unexpected origins.
Let’s explore them a bit closer and find out their actual names, too!
What are brackets?
If you’ve ever seen these keys on your computer: { }, [ ], or < >,
well then you know where all of the types of brackets are, good job!
The word bracket is related to the French braguette
from the name for codpiece armor,
which is literally the piece around the … uh,
man cod that bears resemblance to the architectural features
of the bracket, among other things.
According to Etymonline,
“The typographical bracket
(‘marks used to enclose a note, reference, explanation, etc.,’
formerly called crotchets) is first recorded 1750,
so called for its resemblance to double supports in carpentry
(a sense attested from 1610s).”
Around 1880, brackets also came to mean
“a group bracketed together as of equal standing in some graded system.”
So, this (bracketing with others) is probably
where sports brackets came from then. Aha!
What are square brackets [ ]?
Square brackets ([ ]) are used inside of parentheses
to denote something subordinate to the subordinate clause.
Here’s an example from the 13th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style: “During a prolonged visit to Australia, Gleuk and an assistant
(James Green, who was later to make his own study of a flightless bird
[the kiwi] in New Zealand) spent several difficult months observing the survival behavior of cassowaries and emus.”
What are curly brackets { }?
These { } have a variety of names;
they are called braces, curly brackets, or squiggly brackets.
Usually, these types of brackets are used for lists,
but online, they also signify hugging in electronic communication.
What are angle brackets < > or ? ??
The last confusing symbol, ? ?,
is called an angle bracket or the chevron.
The word originally meant rafter in Old French
and likely came from the Latin term caper, meaning “goat.”
The symbol does somewhat resemble the hind legs of those animals, right?
Today, it is most often used in complex math problems.
Parentheses, brackets, and chevrons
are also used in computer science and programming, too.
What are parentheses ( )?
The most familiar of these symbols is probably the ( ),
called parentheses.
Fun fact: one of them is called a parenthesis,
and as a pair, the plural are parentheses.
Parenthesis literallymeans “to put beside,”
from the Greek roots par-, -en, and thesis.
Outside of the US, these can be called round brackets.
The use of parentheses in printed English dates back to at least 1572.
Parentheses and brackets in writing
How to use parentheses in writing?
Grammatically, they behave kind of like commas
and serve to set aside a part of the sentence or discussion.
Parentheses can also be used as interrupters in sentences
to create a more informal, casual style of writing.
Parentheses offset text that
isn’t important to the meaning of a sentence.
Things like extra information, clarifications, asides, or citations.
The information inside the parentheses
can be as short as a number or a word,
or it can be as long as a few sentences.
Parentheses always appear in pairs.
They’re often used where commas would also be appropriate.
A sentence should be able to stand on its own
without the parenthetical information.
For example:
“The little girl (and her baby doll) skipped across the park to her mother.”
In writing, parentheses can also be used
to show a plural version of a singular word.
For example: “The girl(s) fell into the hole.”
MLA (modern language association) format also uses parentheses for in-text citations.
For more about parentheses in writing
and how to use punctuation with them,
read our article that dives deep into parentheses.
How to use square brackets in writing?
Square brackets [ ] are used
to enclose a section of writing or printing
to separate it from the main text.
They can be used like parentheses,
but are often used less often in writing for that purpose.
One main use of square brackets in writing
is in conjunction with the word sic.
Another way square brackets tend to be used in writing
is to insert a word or name for clarification (that is not in the original text).
Just like sic above, it helps clarify what is written.
For example: “She [Malia] told me it was wrong.”
How to use curly brackets in writing?
Curly brackets { } aren’t used much in writing,
they’re seen more in math and programming
(scroll down a bit to learn how).
But, when you do see them in writing here and there,
the main ways they are used are
to hold lists of items orto hold a term or terms
that are equal to the one written.
Here are some examples:
- Lists: These are all of my friends {Sam, Ilya, Malik, Bri}.
- Equal terms: Use your preferred social media platform {Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok}.
How to use angle brackets in writing?
In writing, angle brackets are rarely seen … in English that is.
In other languages, angle brackets
are used in doubles << >> and replace quotation marks.
When they are used in English writing,
they can sometimes signal a data point,
such as “The delivery happened at <<TIME>> on <<DATE>>.
You can also
use double angle brackets
to mark an action or set a status,
such as <<Out to Lunch>>.
Parentheses and brackets in math
When it comes to parentheses and brackets in math equations,
they are used to signify order,
yu know, like in order of operations.
The correct order to address equations
in parentheses and brackets is as follows:
first solve equations in parentheses ( ),
then the square brackets [ ], and
then the curly brackets { }.
Curly brackets { } can also be used in sets in math.
Sets are just a grouping of numbers.
An example is {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}.
How to use angle brackets in math?
Angle brackets typically are used
as “less than” and “greater than” signs in math.
Examples include: 8 < 16 or 20 > 1.
There are some specialized usages of angle brackets
in complex mathematical fields like quantum mechanics as well
… but we’ll let the experts explain those usages.
Parentheses and brackets in programming
Each type of bracket and parentheses
has a specific function in programming, as well.
Scroll to take a look what they are.
How to use parentheses in programming?
In programming, especially Javascript,
parentheses are used to show that a word is a function.
An example is: showMyWordList (“Elementary Word List”).
How to use square brackets in programming?
Square brackets are used for arrays, specifically in Javascript.
An example is: var color = [“blue”, “teal”, “turquoise”].
How to use curly brackets in programming?
Curly brackets are used to show where a function starts and ends. Simple.
How to use angle brackets in programming?
Angle brackets are used in a different way for programming:
as “less than” and “greater than” signs.
So that means they don’t contain any information at all
when it comes to programming in this way;
instead they represent
if a value is less than or greater than another value in the code.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Words We're Watching
Bracketology
The practice of predicting the outcome of an elimination tournament
What does bracketology mean?
Bracketology is the practice or study of
predicting the outcome of an elimination tournament or competition.
Where did bracketology come from?
Bracketology is formed by adding the sense of bracket
meaning “a pairing of opponents in an elimination tournament”
to the noun combining form -logy (meaning “doctrine, theory, science”).
The word appears to have begun appearing in published writing in the 1990s, and may often be found used in reference to the purported science of predicting the outcome of collegiate basketball tournaments.
How is bracketology used?
At the University of Texas-Austin, I would like to thank Phil Morrison,
Brad Shadwick, and Vernon Wong for keeping me busy during the summer of 1993 with “bracketology” and the like.
— Joseph Wade Schumer, Optimized 1d-1v Vlasov-Poisson simulations using Fourier-Hermite spectral discretizations (PhD Diss.), 1997
This time, they're a serious favorite.
Besides a ring, they might be playing for a top seed in the upcoming Madness, especially in light of what happened to Martin.
Not that Chaney really concerns himself with all that bracketology stuff.
— Mike Kern, Philadelphia Daily News, 10 Mar. 2000
CLP librarians have created a Pittsburgh Picks Great American Read Bracket from the 100 Great American Read titles, according to a national survey by PBS. Pittsburgh patrons voted on their top 10 titles and, using those votes and input from the CLP staff on good matches in the world of bracketology, librarians narrowed the list of 100 to 32.
— Sharon Eberson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 13 Aug. 2018
The Farlex Grammar Book > English Punctuation > Brackets
Brackets
What are brackets?
Brackets ([ ] ), sometimes known as square brackets,
are similar to parentheses in that they are used
to contain information that does not impact the overall grammatical structure of the sentence.
However, rather than indicating information
that is supplemental or incidental,
brackets are usually used within quoted speech
to indicate that a writer has added material to the quotation
to provide clarifying or explanatory information.
There are also a number of more technical uses,
which we’ll look at further on.
Using brackets for clarification
The most common use of brackets
is to enclose information that clarifies or explains
an ambiguous element in a quoted sentence.
For example:
- “She [the governor] insisted that the restructured budget would not result in funding shortfalls for schools.”
We can also use brackets to replace a word
so the quotation fits with the natural flow of the sentence,
such as by changing a capital letter to a lowercase (or vice versa),
using the correct pronoun
to fit the sentence’s grammatical person,
or creating the correct subject-verb agreement.
For instance:
- Original sentence:
“I have always been sure to file my taxes on time.”
- As a quotation:
The senator said he “[has] always been sure to file [his] taxes on time.”
- Original sentence:
“The U.N. will ultimately have oversight over reunification.”
- As a quotation:
The acting president has confirmed that “[t]he U.N. will ultimately have oversight over reunification.
- Original sentence:
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”
- As a quotation:
“[A] date which will live in infamy,” as then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously called it, the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan on December 7, 1941, acted as a catalyst that propelled America into the Second Word War.
Remember:
Do not use parentheses instead of brackets
when making changes to quoted material.
Using parentheses impliesthat the information
is an original part of the quotation,
rather than a change or addition made by the person using the quote.
- “They (the CEOs of the two major corporations) have agreed on a time frame for the historic merger.” (incorrect)
- “They [the CEOs of the two major corporations] have agreed on a time frame for the historic merger.” (correct)
Finally,
if there are already square brackets in the original quote,
we must make a note of it after the quotation
so, the reader doesn’t think it is an addition by the writer.
For instance:
- According to Dobson: “Caesar’s famous line ‘Et tu, Brute [And you, Brutus]?’ is most likely a product of artistic license rather than historical fact.” (Brackets in original; Dobson 203.)
(We will address how to use brackets to indicate translations within a quotation later in this article.)
Indicating added emphasis
When we wish to emphasize a part of a quotation by italicizing
(or, less commonly, underlining) it,
we must be sure to mark that
the emphasis was not included in the original quotation.
Most commonly, we add the words
“emphasis added,”
“emphasis mine,”
“italics added,” or “italics mine.”
If we are making note of this change within the quotation itself,
we must use brackets around this note
so that it remains clear that the change was done
by the person using the quotation.
For example:
- In his literary analysis of the play, Thompson claims that “the entire second act serves to underscore the inevitability of mortality that is always present in our subconscious mind [emphasis added].”
We can also use parentheses for this,
but the notation must occur outside of the quotation.
This is especially useful
if we are including page numbers as part of a citation, as in:
- In his literary analysis of the play, Thompson claims that “the entire second act serves to underscore the inevitability of mortality that is always present in our subconscious mind” (emphasis added; Thompson, 121).
Alternatively,
you could make this parenthetical element
a separate minor sentence after the quotation;
just be sure to put a period at the end of both sentences:
- In his literary analysis of the play, Thompson claims that “the entire second act serves to underscore the inevitability of mortality that is always present in our subconscious mind.” (Emphasis added; Thompson 121.)
When a quotation contains a mistake,
such as a spelling mistake or grammatical error,
but we wish to preserve the quotation exactly as it was written,
we can mark it with the word sic (Latin for thus or so) in brackets
to let the reader know that the error was not our own.
Note that sic is usually italicized, but not always
(the brackets around it, however, are never italicized).
- “For the last few weeks, our team has demonstrated a resolutoin [sic] to win that has simply defied the odds.”
- The protester held up a sign reading, “Its [sic] Time for Literacy!”
- “Every single member of our union have [sic] voted for a strike,” a spokesman said.
Note that the use of sic to indicate errors
can sometimes be seen as
a pedantic way of highlighting other writers’ errors.
It should generally just be used when preserving the quotation
in its original state is specifically important;
otherwise, consider rearranging the quotation
to omit the error, or else put the correct word in brackets in its place,
as in:
- “Every single member of our union [has] voted for a strike,” a spokesman said.
Translations within quotations
When we use a foreign word or phrase
within our own (unquoted) writing,
we can put the translation in parentheses beside it.
If the foreign word (or words) occurs within a quotation, however,
we can provide the translation within brackets
to ensure the reader knows that we’ve added it ourselves.
For example:
- The only thing I know how to say in German is danke schön (thank you).
- The principal said during his speech, “I would like to extend a warm fáilte [welcome] to all of our visiting Irish students.”
Parentheses within parentheses
Occasionally, we might have a larger parenthetical element
that contains one or more smaller ones.
Conventionally, the smaller parenthetical element
will be enclosed within brackets to distinguish it
from the parentheses of the larger text.
While it is not uncommon to see multiple sets of parentheses
used within one another (sometimes known as nested parentheses),
this is generally frowned upon, especially in more formal
or academic writing.
For example:
- “The authors maintain that the correlation is strong enough
to assume causation (though they make this claim ‘with caution’ (Wilson, Dobs, et al., 2010; p. 32)).”
- “The authors maintain that the correlation is strong enough to assume causation (though they make this claim ‘with caution’ [Wilson, Dobs, et al., 2010; p. 32]).”
- “At least I’ll have some extra spending money this summer. (My cousin got me a job at my uncle’s (his dad’s) warehouse.)” (less correct, but acceptable in informal writing)
- “At least I’ll have some extra spending money this summer. (My cousin got me a job at my uncle’s [his dad’s] warehouse.)” (preferred)
Censorship
When using a quotation that
contains vulgar, offensive, or objectionable words,
we can use brackets around a word
like “expletive” or the longer “expletive deleted.”
Occasionally these words are put in capital letters,
especially in more formal writing
such as court transcripts.
For example:
- The defendant told the court that he “knew the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] had been stealing from the company for several years.”
- “My father was a real [expletive],” Smith told reporters, “but I never stopped loving him.”
We can also use two or three dashes (without brackets)
in place of offensive or objectionable language.
Informally, many writers also choose to
simply substitute the word with other characters, especially asterisks.
For example:
- “My father was a real ——,” Smith told reporters, “but I never stopped loving him.”
- “My father was a real ****,” Smith told reporters, “but I never stopped loving him.”
With ellipses
One final use of brackets is to enclose an ellipsis ( … ),
which is used to indicate that a portion of the quoted text
has been omitted,
usually because it is not directly important to the writer’s meaning
and including it would make the quotation overly verbose.
This is especially common in writing that features long excerpts,
such as academic papers.
For example:
- “It’s no surprise,” the superintendent told me, “that people have been leaving so quickly. After all […] no one wants to wake up with half their house underwater.”
- “For on the issue of sovereignty, no one can argue that the country is any less politically sovereign than […] before the crisis. But in handing power from the hands of their electorate to the wealthy elite, the interests of the nation will be […] inevitably left up to the interests of corporations.”
Note that brackets in this case are not mandatory;
though some style guides recommend their use,
it is very common to see ellipses without brackets as well.
Check the preference of your organization’s or school’s style guide,
and be sure to be consistent.
Other types of brackets
In addition to parentheses and square brackets,
there are two other types of brackets:
braces ( { } ) and angle brackets ( < > ).
Braces (Curly Brackets)
Braces (also known as curly brackets)
are commonly used in mathematics
to express sets of numbers,
as well as in computer programming languages.
In non-mathematical and non-programming writing,
braces occasionally serve the purpose
of linking multiple lines of text
to show a shared meaning or connection between them,
but this is generally only seen in handwriting
(since, there is no straightforward way
to create multiple-line-spanning braces in modern typesetting).
It’s also possible for them to be used
to represent a series of possible choices,
as in:
- You may choose one meat filling {chicken, pork, beef} and one type of cheese {cheddar, Swiss, pepper jack, mozzarella} for your sandwich.
However, they are used very rarely for this purpose.
Note: Braces should never be used in place of parentheses or brackets.
Angle Brackets
Angle brackets (sometimes known as chevrons)
are also used primarily in mathematics.
In writing, we also can use angle brackets
to indicate Internet URLs or email addresses,
as in:
- “Further information is available at <www.thefreedictionary.com>.”
However, this tendency fell out of common use
as URLs and email addresses became more commonplace.
However, you may still encounter angle brackets
used in this way to indicate URLs
in the Works Cited pages of research papers,
or to separate a person’s name from their email address
in the recipient line when composing an email.
Dictionary.com
3 Ways To Use Parentheses
When you’ve mastered the basics of punctuation,
such as how to use the punctuation marks
that appear at the end of a sentence,
you’ll want to spend some time
considering the types of marks you use within your sentences.
These include parentheses
—and other similar symbols, like brackets,
which offset text that isn’t important to the meaning of a sentence.
Though there are a variety of these types of marks
(and they are the subject of another article),
here we focus on the parentheses and how to use them in your writing.
Parentheses offset extra information, clarifications, asides, or citations.
The information inside the parentheses, for example,
can be as short as a number or a word,
or it can be as long as a few sentences.
There are some basics about parentheses
to note before discussing their uses:
parentheses always appear in pairs,
and they’re often used where commas would also be appropriate.
(And, in case you’re wondering,
the parenthesis is singular; parentheses is plural.)
That said, let’s talk a little more in-depth about how to use parentheses.
Parentheses clarify and add information
A sentence should be able to stand on its own
without the parenthetical information.
For example:
The little girl (and her baby doll) skipped across the park to her mother.
Here, the primary subject is the little girl.
The extra information in the parentheses isn’t necessary.
You could delete it without changing the sentence’s meaning.
The information inside the parentheses can also work
as an aside or a separate piece of the full story.
Here’s an example:
Marshall needed to leave (his bus was departing soon) so he waved goodbye.
Here, the parenthetical text works clarifies the first part of the sentence.
It adds extra information without cluttering the sentence.
How to punctuate parentheses
If the information inside the parentheses is a complete sentence,
you’d usually put the period inside the closing parenthesis.
This is a point up for debate (it’s not unusual to see punctuation outside the parentheses, as in this sentence).
However, if the information is a fragment
and the parenthetical comes at the end of the larger sentence,
the closing punctuation mark should be outside the closing parenthesis.
When the parentheses appear in the middle of a sentence
that needs a comma or other punctuation,
the punctuation should appear after the closing parenthesis.
Commas rarely come before the first parenthesis.
For example:
We brought the winning lottery ticket with us ($200), but to our dismay, the shop had closed early.
Parentheses are used in citations
MLA format uses parentheses for in-text citations.
Parenthetical citations come after a direct quote or paraphrase,
and typically include the author’s last name
and the page number of the quote, depending on the information.
The text inside the parentheses should give enough information
for a reader to consult the paper’s Works Cited page and track down the source.
For example:
Fire imagery permeates Fahrenheit 451 from the first sentence: ‘It was a pleasure to burn’ (Bradbury 1).
In general, the role of parentheses is to provide extra information
without overwhelming the main sentence.
Although there may be other ways to insert the information,
the parentheses also allow for a visual break in the text.
The A-Z of Correct English Common Errors in English Dictionary
Brackets
Round brackets enclose additional information
which the writer wants to keep separate from the main body of the sentence.
Jane Austen (born in 1775) died in Winchester.
My neighbour (have you met her?) has won £250,000.
Notice how sentences in brackets are not fully punctuated.
They don’t begin with a capital letter or have a full stop at the end
if they occur within another sentence as in the example above.
They do, however, have a question mark or an exclamation mark,
if appropriate.
Square brackets indicate the material has been added
to the original by another writer:
When I [Hilaire Belloc] am dead, I hope it may be said:
‘His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.’