Hey, everyone, welcome to another English grammar lesson. Today we're going to be covering
parentheses.
So, what exactly are parentheses? Well, first of all, they look like this, and
their job is to surround extra information in a sentence that could be removed without
really impacting the meaning or major information in that sentence. Perhaps the most common
things that you'll find in parentheses are acronyms, which are multiple-letter abbreviations,
usually for things like organizations, schools, and leagues. For example, "He goes to Michigan
State University (MSU)." "My father played in the National Basketball Association (NBA)."
“I need some paid time off (PTO).” Another common use of parentheses is for date ranges
or life spans: "World War III (2150 to 2154) was very deadly." “Jim Jones (1844 – 1900)
was a very kind man.” We can also use parentheses for page numbers: "For homework, please read
Chapter 3 (pages 43 to 57)." And we might also use them for measurements: "The model
is two feet (24 inches) tall." I think you get the idea. The point is we use parentheses
to surround extra information in a sentence, kind of like we would with commas but for
more specific things. And other than that basic idea, there are really only three things
that you need to remember when it comes to using parentheses. First, the stuff in parentheses
should always come after the main information: Like, you wouldn't say this: "Randy played
in the (NFL) National Football League." You want the stuff in parentheses—the "parenthetical
information"—to come after the main info. You also don't want to use the extra information
as the main information. So, like, this would be wrong too: "Randy played in the NFL (National
Football League)." The acronym should come after the full name, not before. And the only
other rule that you need to remember is that you should be able to take the stuff in parentheses
out of your sentence and still have a sentence left. And that includes having all of the
punctuation marks that you would need. Like this—watch: "Today, we learned about World
War I, which lasted from (1914 to 1918)." Now, at a glance, this might look correct
to you. There’s extra information here; it’s a date; we’re all good, right? Wrong.
Look what would happen if we took the stuff in parentheses out of this sentence; what
would the rest of it say? Well, let's read it… "Today, we learned about World War I,
which lasted from." Uh, yikes… Yeah, that would be wrong. The point I’m getting at
here is that you can't just put parentheses around every date or every acronym or every
page number that you see. You have to actually look to make sure that you can take away that
stuff and still have a sentence. And the same thing is true for situations like this: "I'd
like you guys to read Chapter 7 (pages 88 to 99.)" Now, if we remove the stuff in parentheses
here, there is still a sentence: "I'd like you guys to read Chapter 7." Except there’s
one small problem—do you see it? By putting the period inside the parentheses like we
did, that means we would actually take out the period from the sentence, which would
be a problem because, you know, sentences need periods—or some kind of end mark at
least. The correct version of that sentence would look like this—with the period on
the outside so it doesn't get, like, hijacked and deleted from the sentence with the other
stuff. Now, you can have punctuation inside parentheses. It doesn't always have to go
on the outside. My point was that you just have to look at it and sort of, you know,
use your brain a little bit. Like this: "Many fast food restaurants (McDonald's, Burger
King, etc.) are trying to add healthier options to their menus." Now, this is correct because
when I take out all the stuff in parentheses, I still have a full sentence with all of the
right punctuation. The period inside the parentheses here is supposed to be inside the parentheses
because it's part of the abbreviation. if I put that period outside and then took out
the stuff in parentheses, you can see that I'd have a bit of a problem. Okay, let's take
a look at a few examples and see if they're correct or not... "The Civil War (1861 to
1865) was very bloody." Okay, so the first thing we need to do is make sure that the
stuff in parentheses is actually extra information—and it is. It tells us more about the Civil War.
So, now all we need to do is see what would happen if we take that information out. “The
Civil War was very bloody.” Yeah, that sounds good. That's correct. Next one: "GVSU (Grand
Valley State University) is a great school." Okay, so, look at the information in parentheses.
What do you think? Is it extra? Is that stuff that we don’t really need? No, right? That's
not extra; that’s the main information. “GVSU”—the acronym—is what should
be in parentheses. This is how the sentence should look. Couple more… "The temperature
was 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius.)" Okay, so, check the information in parentheses;
is it extra? Yes, it is. Now, let’s see if we can take it out and still have a sentence.
... Ooh, uh-oh—bit of a problem here. Because what did we do? Well, we hijacked the period.
With the period inside the parentheses like that, if we take this stuff out, that means
the period would go away too, which is a problem because then we wouldn’t actually an ending
for our sentence. So, to fix that, we would very simply do this. Last one: "I found the
answer in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of the website." Okay, take a look
at the stuff in the parentheses, and see if it is extra. Cool, it is. Now, let’s take
it out and see what we have. I still see a sentence. So, ba-da-bing-ba-da-boom, this
sentence is correct. Cool! Well, whether you came here for a refresher or are just now
learning this stuff for the first time, I hope this video helped. Be sure to check out
the free practice down in the description, and—uh—we’ll see you next time. Thanks.