On Punctuation With Parentheses
Parenthetical statements come in two varieties: small statements within a sentence, or longer statements of one or more sentences.
When inserting a parenthetical statement into a sentence, don’t move any of the sentence’s punctuation into the parentheses or adjust the grammar of the sentence to account for the text in the parentheses. You should be able to completely remove the parenthetical statement from the sentence and still have all grammar and punctuation flow correctly:
Original: While I was speaking with Ludwig, I was also texting my wife.
Wrong: While I was speaking with Ludwig (my step-father,) I was also texting my wife.
Right: While I was speaking with Ludwig (my step-father), I was also texting my wife.
Original: I don’t dislike Ludwig, but I don’t really enjoy his company, either.
Wrong: I don’t dislike Ludwig (or his children,) but I don’t really enjoy their company, either.
Right: I don’t dislike Ludwig (or his children), but I don’t really enjoy his company, either.
As a good rule of thumb, if the parenthetical is within a sentence, two things should be true: first, you should not begin the parenthetical with a capital unless it is a word that is normally capitalized (like a name); second, you should never have any punctuation at the end of the statement inside the parentheses. The only exception for this is if the statement is a question or an exclamation, in which case you can end it with a question mark or exclamation point, respectively. Note, however, that the question mark or exclamation point will not end the sentence.
Wrong: Ludwig is really smart (He is a physicist.) and kind of socially awkward.
Right: Ludwig is really smart (he is a physicist) and kind of socially awkward.
Wrong: I don’t really get Ludwig (and probably never will;) he doesn’t really get me either.
Right: I don’t really get Ludwig (and probably never will); he doesn’t really get me, either.
Right: The other day, Ludwig wore lederhosen (seriously . . . lederhosen?) to my baseball game.
Original: But he bought me ice cream afterward, which was nice.
Wrong: But he bought me ice cream afterward (my favorite!) Which was nice.
Right: But he bought me ice cream afterward (my favorite!), which was nice.
If, on the other hand, your parenthetical statement is a sentence or more, then simply insert the entire thing into your paragraph as you would any other sentence, only with parentheses around it:
My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go. (I’d have to skip out on band camp. I’m a section leader this year, so that seems like it would be irresponsible.) But my mom really wants me to come.
Note that, as always, the entire parenthetical statement could be removed from the paragraph without a problem:
My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go. But my mom really wants me to come.
This is why you should make sure that none of the information outside the parentheses refers directly to any of the information inside the parentheses—otherwise, the parenthetical wouldn’t be able to be removed without affecting the flow of information.
My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go. (I’d have to skip out on band camp. I’m a section leader this year, so that seems like it would be irresponsible.) But my mom really wants me to come, so I may need to get permission from my Band Director.
Without the parentheses, that paragraph wouldn’t make sense:
My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go. But my mom really wants me to come, so I may need to get permission from my Band Director.
In such cases, you’re best off moving more information into the parentheses or getting rid of the parentheses altogether.
My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go, but my mom really wants me to come. (I’d have to skip out on band camp. I’m a section leader this year, so that seems like it would be irresponsible. I may need to get permission from my Band Director.)
My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go. (I’d have to skip out on band camp. I’m a section leader this year, so that seems like it would be irresponsible.) But my mom really wants me to come (so I may need to get permission from my Band Director).
My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go, since I’d have to skip out on band camp. I’m a section leader this year—skipping seems like it would be irresponsible. But my mom really wants me to come, so I may need to get permission from my Band Director.
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