Parentheses Punctuation

Question

Here's something about parenthesis use that's always caused me trouble. Take the following example:

Maryann asked if the teacher could explain the arithmetic lesson again. (She had not been paying attention.)

Ignoring the actual content of the sentence (something stupid I just made up), I am wondering if someone could clarify parentheses punctuation for me. Specifically, I'm wondering if there's ever an instance where it would be acceptable to do this:

Maryann asked if the teacher could explain the arithmetic lesson again (She had not been paying attention.).

i.e.
Can you put a complete sentence in parentheses within a sentence, or should a standalone punctuated sentence in parentheses always be its own separate sentence? It looks silly the way I wrote it with the content in parentheses at the end of the sentence because of the ".)." but what if the content was in the middle of the sentence?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,
Let me begin by making my position clear. I think parentheses should be seldom (if ever) used in careful writing. Many people overuse them, for no good reason.

Here's something about parenthesis use that's always caused me trouble. Take the following example:

Maryann asked if the teacher could explain the arithmetic lesson again. (She had not been paying attention.) The punctuation is fine. But what do you gain by putting this in parenthess?

Ignoring the actual content of the sentence (something stupid I just made up), I am wondering if someone could clarify parentheses punctuation for me. Specifically, I'm wondering if there's ever an instance where it would be acceptable to do this:

Maryann asked if the teacher could explain the arithmetic lesson again (She had not been paying attention.). I wouldn't start it with a capital, and I'd omit the period inside the last bracket.
But it leaves the meaning unclear. Would it not be clearer, for example, to simply say 'because' and omit the parentheses?

i.e.
Can you put a complete sentence in parentheses within a sentence, or should a standalone punctuated sentence in parentheses always be its own separate sentence? It looks silly the way I wrote it with the content in parentheses at the end of the sentence because of the ".)." but what if the content was in the middle of the sentence? Omit the period inside the brackets.

Let me restate my overall opinion. Parentheses are often used by people who do not want to take the time to make their meaning clear by careful sentence structure.
THey are a bit like saying to the reader " Oh , I forgot to say this little comment, and I'll leave it up to you to figure out what I really mean! "

Other people here may offer you different opinions.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

I completely agree about parentheses overuse. The example I made up was a poor one; I agree that I could have used "because" in that specific sentence. However, if there were a need to use parentheses, can you do that?

I have always read that if the content in parentheses is an independent clause, the period should be within the parentheses. Your answer seems to contradict this by telling me to change the first letter to a lowercase and omit the period.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Yes. That's what I'd do.

I don't know what the various style guides recommend. As I noted, if I wanted to write in very good style, I wouldn't be likely to be using parentheses at all.

I suppose there will be some context in which parentheses for a whole statement are a good idea. Can you suggest an example?

Clive

Parentheses Punctuation

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