Parentheses

Use parentheses to enclose material

that is added to a sentence but is not

considered of major importance

You should ask a physician (a

medical doctor) to help you out.

Brackets

Use brackets to enclose an explanation or

added information within quoted or

parenthetical material

Sojourner Truth (her given name is

Isabella Baumfree [born a slave]) spoke

out for women's right and African

American freedom.

Dashes

Use a dash to indicate an abrupt break in

thought or speech

Mr. Steven -he just left- forgot to

get his keys.

He did his project on a pterodactyl

(ter-uh-dak-til)

That man -who's hiding something-

just ran out the door.

At the press conference, the police

officer stated, "We are following up on

several leads regarding the

[Fry's Electronics] robbery."