Brackets are tall punctuation marks used in matched pairs within text. They are used in mathematics and in literature (written language). They are sometimes used to set apart or interject other parts of the text. They are noted as left/right: the left bracket is "[" and the right bracket is "]".
In the American English, "bracket" usually refers specifically to the "square" or "box" type. In British English, "bracket" normally refers to the "round" type, which is called a "parenthesis" mark in American usage.
Parentheses are the curved brackets "( )". They are also called round brackets, curved brackets, oval brackets, or, colloquially, parens.
Parentheses have several different meanings, such as:
noting optional text: "(this is optional)";
showing other word endings: "vote(s)" or "quick(ly)"
adjusting the meaning: "There are some (many) pages".
grouping terms in a calculation: 6 x (2 + 3) = 30.
showing emphasis for attention: "(((wow)))".
There are also other uses for parentheses.
Parentheses enclose text which could be left out, without destroying or altering the meaning of a sentence. In most writing, overuse of parentheses is usually a sign of a badly structured text. A milder effect may be obtained by using a pair of commas around the text, although if the sentence contains commas for other uses, then visual confusion may result.
Parentheses may be used in formal writing to add more information, such as in:
"Sen. John McCain (R., Arizona) spoke at length"
They can also note "either singular or plural" for nouns, such as in the word "claim(s)".
In mathematics, various brackets are used for various purposes. These include, in particular:
Brackets in grammar and typography
Commonly used as punctuation marks are several types of parentheses, which are almost exclusively used in pairs (i.e. as opening and closing parentheses); the English terms differ in British (BE) and American (AE) English:
An opening and closing parenthesis is always preceded by a space (unless - as here - it is followed by a punctuation mark or the parenthesis indicates alternatives, as in Kolleg(inn)en). After an opening parenthesis and before a closing parenthesis, on the other hand, there is no space. (A full stop only precedes a closing parenthesis if a complete sentence is bracketed, as here).
Round brackets
()
(...) : (Greek/English: parentheses [AE] or round brackets [BE]): the usual brackets used in continuous text to separate and enclose parts of sentences. Unicode: U+0028 and U+0029
Square brackets
[]
[...] : (English: brackets [AE] or square brackets [BE]): Used, among other things, when something is to be bracketed within a bracket expression or to indicate omissions and insertions in quotations. In linguistics, phone are usually enclosed in square brackets ; examples: [ˈbaɪ̯ˌʃpiːlə] (IPA phonetic transcription); "[AE]" and "[BE]" in this paragraph, "[sic]" and "[...]". Unicode: U+005B and U+005D
Curly/curved brackets (accolades)
{}
{…} : also called nose braces (engl.: braces [AE] or curly brackets [BE], fr. : accolades): Are rarely used to join several lines together. They have a special meaning in dictionaries, for example. Unicode: U+007B and U+007D.
Angle clamps
⟨⟩
⟨...⟩ : also called "angle brackets"; Unicode: U+27E8 and U+27E9, respectively: see below〈...〉 in the section CJK brackets). They are rarely used. In dictionaries they have a special meaning, for example the (etymological) origin of a word is put in angle brackets, more rarely style indications in dictionaries. In linguistics, graphemes and grapheme chains are placed in angle brackets. Since these characters are missing in the ASCII character set, the ASCII characters "less than" < and "greater than" > (Unicode: U+003C and U+003E; HTML: < and > ) are often used instead. The latter are often used in electronic data processing to distinguish between name and e-mail address-for example: Max Mustermann <[email protected]>
CJK Staples
Other types of brackets are common in CJK fonts; the Unicode character standard contains the additional encodings for them.
In the IPA, the characters "[" and "]" indicate the beginning and end of the phonetic transcription, respectively; they have IPA numbers 901 and 902 (HTML entity [ = [ and ] = ]).
Curly/curved brackets
{}
The curly/curly brackets in the International Phonetic Alphabet indicate the beginning or end of prosodic notation; (HTML-entities { = { and } = }).
Questions and Answers
Q: What are brackets?
A: Brackets are tall punctuation marks used in matched pairs within text. They can be used in mathematics and literature (written language).
Q: What is the difference between American English and British English when it comes to brackets?
A: In American English, "bracket" usually refers specifically to the "square" or "box" type. In British English, "bracket" normally refers to the "round" type, which is called a "parenthesis" mark in American usage.
Q: What are parentheses?
A: Parentheses are curved brackets "( )". They are also called round brackets, curved brackets, oval brackets, or colloquially parens.
Q: What different meanings do parentheses have?
A: Parentheses have several different meanings such as noting optional text; showing other word endings; adjusting the meaning; adding humor; indicating a negative number; grouping terms in a calculation; and showing emphasis for attention.
Q: How can parentheses be used in formal writing?
A: Parentheses can be used in formal writing to add more information such as Sen. John McCain (R., Arizona) spoke at length". They can also note either singular or plural for nouns such as with the word “claim(s)”.
Q: Are there any other uses for parentheses besides those mentioned above?
A: Yes, parentheses enclose text which could be left out without destroying or altering the meaning of a sentence. However, overuse of parentheses is usually a sign of a badly structured text so it should be avoided if possible. A milder effect may be obtained by using a pair of commas around the text instead.
Q: What types of brackets are used in mathematics?
A: In mathematics various types of brackets are used for various purposes including square/box type and round/parenthesis type as well as others depending on what needs to be done mathematically speaking.
