![]() ![]() No mark of punctuation should ever precede a parentheses, but you can use punctuation after the closing parentheses if necessary. Parentheses can be used to set off incidental information such as numbers, dates, examples, and references:Įxample: The show will run for a staggering seventeen (17) weekends.Įxample: A recent study examined wellness practices among Kentucky Derby winning jockeys (Calamine, 2012).Įxample: The use of “human” as a noun (“Humans are sentient beings”) has been criticized. If you wish to use parentheses effectively here are some guidelines: ![]() If not, punctuation marks such as commas are often more academically appropriate. Another thing to keep in mind is that they are often seen as casual in tone, so make sure they are appropriate for the style of writing you are using. Too many can break the clarity and flow of your ideas. Also like dashes, parentheses should be used sparingly. Rather than a surprise (like dashes), parentheses are a gentler insertion in your sentence. Parentheses also signify a break in thought, but they mark an addition of information rather than an interruption like dashes do. See our Colons handout for more information. NOTE: Colons are preferred when introducing a list. Use dashes to mark the beginning and end of a series, which might otherwise get confused, with the rest of the sentence:Įxample: The three female characters-the wife, the nun, and the jockey-are the incarnation of excellence.ĭashes are also used to mark the interruption of a sentence in dialogue:Įxample: “Help! This horse is going too fast,” the actor yelled. Inappropriate: They acquired several horses at the fair, -a winner, a loser, and a beer-drinking mare.Īppropriate: They acquired several horses at the fair-a winner, a loser, and a beer drinking mare. Don’t allow a comma to substitute for the second dash, and be sure that your sentence would make sense if the part without the dashes were omitted:Įxample: The actors bowed-except for the horse-knowing they blew everyone away!ĭon’t combine dashes with other punctuation marks: If the main sentence resumes, a second dash is needed. If you wish to use dashes effectively here are some guidelines: Tip: When using the em dash in a sentence, you do not place spaces on either side of the punctuation mark, except in some journalistic styles of writing. Think carefully before peppering your papers with them. Em dashes are useful in early drafts to capture thoughts and afterthoughts, but in revising you may need to delete them in favor of punctuation marks that better express your ideas, such as commas (see our handout on Commas for more information). If overused, it creates an impression of haste and carelessness and can diminish cohesion in your paragraphs. If used judiciously it can mark a longer, more dramatic pause and provide more emphasis than a comma can. It can be seen as “surprising” the reader with information. The DashĪn em dash-inserted by typing Control+Alt+Minus between the words it separates-signals an abrupt break in thought. In this handout, we have provided some guidelines for using each punctuation mark. Strive to be clean and clear in your writing. Another word of caution: make sure that you are introducing relevant additional information with your dashes or parentheses and that it is not just added for fluff. Dashes are more common in fiction writing and in more casual texts. A word of caution: although parentheses can be used throughout all writing genres, dashes are rarely used in formal academic research. Dashes interrupt your writing to insert an interjection or pause, while parentheses gently add information to your point. Although sometimes considered interchangeable, each serves a specific purpose in your writing. Dashes and parentheses indicate an “aside” to the point you are making in your sentence. ![]()
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