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Mar 15, 2022 · What are square brackets? Square brackets, often just called brackets in American English, are a set of punctuation marks that are most often used to alter or add information to quoted material. Square brackets come in pairs as [and ].
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Square brackets […], also called brackets, are punctuation marks used to alter or add information to quoted material. They are always used in pairs and help offset information from the rest of a sentence in order to add information or detail.
- Square Brackets: When Are They used?
- Comments and Clarifications in Quoted Text
- To Indicate Emphasis
- To Adjust Sentence Structure
- With Sic
- Inside Parentheses
- In Citations
- Square Brackets with Other Punctuation
- Brackets vs. Parentheses
- Usage Guide
Square brackets (or simply brackets) are punctuation marksused mainly to enclose additional text that is not originally part of the surrounding passage. This is information added later by someone other than the original speaker or writer—an explanation, editorial clarification, correction, or translation. Square brackets are also used when brackets...
When you quote someone, enclose in square brackets any comments, clarifications, interpolations, explanations, and other information added later and not in the original speech or text. Such editorial interpolations can help clarify an unclear pronoun referencein quoted text. You may also simply replace an unclear pronoun. Enclose the replacement in...
If you emphasize a portion of quoted text (e.g., by italicizing it), inform your readers of this change by inserting a clarification in square brackets. Write “emphasis mine,” “my italics,” “italics added,” or something similar. If the emphasis in a passage is from the original text (not added by you), this may be specified by inserting in square b...
It may be necessary to adjust the grammatical structure of quoted text to match the passage in which it appears. This could be a change in tense or verb form. When you make such a change, enclose the altered text in square brackets.
The Latin sic is used to indicate that a quotation has been exactly reproduced, including any spelling or grammatical errors in the original text. Sic comes from Latin and literally means “so,” loosely translated as “intentionally so written.” It signifies an intended reproduction of original text, errors and all. The term sicis traditionally itali...
Use square brackets to enclose parenthetical material that appears in text already in parentheses(brackets within brackets).
Many citation styles call for the use of square brackets (e.g., to cite an author’s pseudonym, to provide an abbreviation, or with in-text citations). Here are some examples.
Other punctuation marks like periods and question marks are used the same way with square brackets as they are with parentheses (round brackets). Punctuation goes inside bracketsif it belongs to the bracketed material but outside if it is part of the surrounding text.
Parentheses and brackets both enclose additional information.Parentheses are used mainly to set off explanatory material from surrounding text, whereas brackets enclose information added to quoted text by someone other than the original writer. Brackets can also enclose parenthetical material, but only if it appears within text already enclosed in ...
The primary use of square brackets in English is to enclose an editorial comment, correction, or clarification, or any other change made to quoted text by someone other than the original speaker or writer. Brackets are also used in source citations. Brackets are not interchangeable with parentheses but can enclose parenthetical material that appear...
Sep 16, 2022 · Use Brackets To Add Editorial Changes. Square brackets allow a writer or editor to fix mistakes within a quote, add explanatory information, change a quote to fit in a sentence, or add emphasis to a word through bold or italics.
When writers insert or alter words in a direct quotation, square brackets— [ ]—are placed around the change. The brackets, always used in pairs, enclose words intended to clarify meaning, provide a brief explanation, or to help integrate the quote into the writer’s sentence.
Jan 2, 2024 · Square brackets, also known as brackets, are a type of punctuation mark that is used to enclose additional information within a sentence. They are used to clarify, modify, or add information to quoted material.
SQUARE BRACKET definition: 1. one of the symbols [ and ] that are put around words or numbers: 2. one of the symbols [ and…. Learn more.
