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parenthesis

Definition of parenthesis

• discontinuity
• hiccough
• intermission
• interregnum
• interruption

Examples of parenthesis in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'parenthesis.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Late Latin, from Greek, literally, act of inserting, from parentithenai to insert, from para- + en- en- + tithenai to place — more at do

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Dictionary Entries Near parenthesis

parenthesize

Cite this Entry

“Parenthesis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parenthesis. Accessed 18 Jun. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of parenthesis, more from merriam-webster on parenthesis.

Nglish: Translation of parenthesis for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of parenthesis for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about parenthesis

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What Are Parentheses And How Do You Use Them?

• What Are Parentheses?
• When To Use Them
• How To Use Them
• Use Grammar Coach

Punctuation can get pretty tricky (especially those darn commas ). However, punctuation can be mastered if you put in the effort. It won’t come easy (it never does), but mastering punctuation will help bring your grammar to the next level. If you are interested in beginning (or continuing) your dominance over punctuation marks, mastering parentheses will go a long way in making your punctuation perfect. Are you ready? (We are!)

What are parentheses ?

Parentheses are a pair of punctuation marks that are most often used to add additional nonessential information or an aside to a sentence. Parentheses resemble two curved vertical lines: ( ). A single one of these punctuation marks is called a parenthesis . It is considered a grammar error to only use a single parenthesis; parentheses are always used in pairs in proper grammar.

✏️ Examples of parentheses in a sentence

The following sentences give just a few examples of the different ways we can use parentheses.

• Sue Doughnym (if that even is her real name) left a very suspicious letter.
• When it comes to vegetables, I would say that tomatoes (Is a tomato a vegetable?) are my favorite.
• After 10 years, the water levels rose significantly. (See Table 5A.)
• According to experts, ice cream production seems exciting, but in reality it is surprisingly vanilla. (Ben and Jerry, 1975)
• The Justice League of America (JLA) refused to comment on the allegations that Aquaman sat around and did nothing.

When do you use parentheses?

Typically, parentheses are used sparingly in formal writing. In general, the most common usage of parentheses is to add asides or unessential additional information. However, there are several other reasons a writer may choose to use parentheses.

Additional information

Parentheses can be used within or after a sentence to give additional context. This information is almost always unessential, offers an aside, or states the writer’s commentary. Information inside parentheses can be a word, a sentence fragment, a complete sentence, or multiple complete sentences :

• Single word: He put ketchup and mayonnaise (yuck) on his hot dog.
• Sentence fragment: Champ is a loyal police dog (and a good boy) .
• Sentence: Norlen, Norlen, and Cuddleswuffles (don’t ask) is the most prestigious law firm in the city.
• Multiple sentences: The city was saved by our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. (Is he really a hero? I have my doubts.) 

When using parentheses, the information contained within them should be unessential. You can test this by removing the parenthetical information and seeing if the sentence is still clear and makes sense. If it doesn’t, consider rewriting your sentence without parentheses. For example,

• Unessential: Pumpkin pie (my favorite kind of pie) is delicious. Pumpkin pie is delicious .
• Essential: July (and June) are summer months. July are summer months .

Although less common, there are a variety of other situations in which it is considered acceptable to use parentheses. These include:

References and sources: In research and academic writing, style guides typically advise using parentheses to direct a reader to charts, tables, illustrations, and other reference material. For example, a sentence might read Air pollution has increased by 100 percent. (See Chart 12.) Similarly, citations that direct a reader toward a source list or bibliography are often placed after a sentence inside parentheses. For example, an article might include a sentence that says According to leading scientists, cats consider humans to be nothing more than servants. (Tabby and Meowcolms, 2005)

Abbreviations and acronyms: Parentheses are used to explain the meaning of an unfamiliar abbreviation or acronym or to introduce an abbreviation or acronym that will be used in the rest of the writing:

• The case was handled by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) .
• Ghosthunting is handled by the Bureau of Odd Occurrences (BOO) .

Area codes: When giving a phone number, the area code is typically contained within parentheses:

• Bailey can be reached at (555) 123-4567.

Lifespans: When relevant, a historical person’s birth and death date are included in parentheses:

• Albert Einstein (1879–1955) was one of the greatest scientific minds of recent history.

Numbered or lettered lists: Lists that are separated by numbers or letters may use parentheses to make something easier to read:

• You need to bring three things to the camping trip: (1) a tent, (2) a sleeping bag, and (3) plenty of extra food.
• Any formal request for adding pineapple to the pizza must include: (a) your name, (b) your age, (c) your address, and (d) a trash can to throw the request into.

How are braces (or curly brackets) used for lists? Find out here.

How to use parentheses

There are a few things to know when using parentheses to add asides or additional information.

It is improper to use one parenthesis

To properly use parentheses, include all of the additional information between a pair of parentheses. For example,

❌ Incorrect:  Halloween my favorite holiday ) is right around the corner. ✅ Correct:  Halloween (my favorite holiday) is right around the corner.

Punctuation

When it comes to punctuation, style guides may differ on the specifics of using parentheses. In general, the punctuation mark that the sentence uses comes after the parentheses:

• The witch was mean to Dorothy (and her friends) .

If the parentheses includes a question or exclamation, it is okay to put a question mark or exclamation point inside the parentheses:

• I like candy (Who doesn’t?) , but you can’t eat it all of the time.
• I have a party today (Yay!) and a dentist appointment tomorrow (Boo!) .

When used in sentences, parentheses typically come before a comma and not after:

• Typical: She gave me a gift (the coat I wanted) , and I gave one to her.
• Atypical: She gave me a gift, (the coat I wanted) and I gave one to her

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Capitalization

Like punctuation, the rules of capitalization when using parentheses often depend on the style guide or grammar resource that you use. In general, the first word inside parentheses is typically capitalized if it is a proper noun or it begins a new complete sentence.

• That girl (Jessica, I think) was really nice to me.
• I really like geese. (Swans are a whole different story.)

When parentheses are used in the middle of a sentence, most grammar resources typically only suggest to capitalize the first word of a complete sentence if it is a question or exclamation:

• Capitalized: She said she saw Pete (Who?) by the bus stop.
• Capitalized: We were beginning our seventh hour of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (They are long movies!) when the power went out.
• Usually not capitalized: We bought all of the pink balloons (they were out of red ones) for the birthday party.

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Parenthesis

What is parenthesis.

Table of Contents

Examples of Parenthesis

Parenthesis in apposition, why parenthesis is important.

• Andrew Jacklin (last year's losing finalist) is expected to win this heat.
• The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. (Journalist HL Mencken)

• Paul , on the other hand, is considered extremely trustworthy.
• House prices in Alton , which is only 25 minutes from London, are soaring.
• Mathematics , rightly viewed, possesses not only truth but supreme beauty. (Philosopher Bertrand Russell)
• Dave Bellamy, like his father, Peter Bellamy, last year, was victorious in this year's regional pie-making finals.
• Dave Bellamy (like his father, Peter Bellamy, last year) was victorious in this year's regional pie-making finals.

• They roasted the winning brisket — the size of a pillow — in a mighty clay oven.
• If mankind minus one were of one opinion, then mankind is no more justified in silencing the one than the one — if he had the power — would be justified in silencing mankind. (Philosopher John Stuart Mill)
• Peter , my mate from school, won the lottery.

(Point 1) Choose the right parenthetical punctuation.

(Point 2) Offset your parenthesis with two parenthetical punctuation marks.

(Point 3) You don't have to offset a short, obvious parenthesis.

• John on the other hand drinks like a fish.
• Control how your parenthesis looks by choosing the most appropriate parenthetical punctuation.
• Remember that parenthetical-punctuation marks come in pairs.
• If your parenthesis is short, consider not using any parenthetical punctuation.

This page was written by Craig Shrives .

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• Parentheses () | Definition, Punctuation, Rules & Examples

Parentheses () | Definition, Punctuation, Rules & Examples

Published on April 14, 2015 by Shane Bryson . Revised on November 29, 2022.

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Table of contents

Side-by-side parentheses, nested parentheses.

Sometimes you might need to use two parenthetical elements together—for example, when a sentence contains both an acronym and a citation. Style guides disagree about whether it’s okay to place two (or more) parenthetical asides side by side.

APA style  recommends using a single set of parentheses with a semicolon separating the main elements.

• The results were sorted by gross domestic product (GDP; Odin, 2018).

Chicago  also advises this approach, but allows side-by-side parentheses if their content is entirely unrelated. If you do use two sets of parentheses, put a space between them.

Check for common mistakes

Use the best grammar checker available to check for common mistakes in your text.

Fix mistakes for free

When you want to enclose a set of parentheses inside another set, most style guides recommend using square brackets for the inner element.

• Several prestigious organizations (e.g., National Institutes of Health (NIH)) supported the initiative.
• Several prestigious organizations (e.g., National Institutes of Health [NIH]) supported the initiative.

In British English , parentheses within parentheses are more acceptable. However, it’s always best to avoid this kind of nesting whenever possible. If you can rephrase the sentence to remove one of the parenthetical elements, this is the best option.

• Several prestigious organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), supported the initiative.

When including a citation within a parenthetical element, APA style recommends using commas instead of parentheses or brackets.

• This sort of testing is usually unreliable (as Jenner [2012] took pains to show).
• This sort of testing is usually unreliable (as Jenner, 2012, took pains to show).

Sources in this article

We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.

Bryson, S. (2022, November 29). Parentheses () | Definition, Punctuation, Rules & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/language-rules/parentheses/

Butterfield, J. (Ed.). (2015).  Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage  (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Garner, B. A. (2016).  Garner’s modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Is this article helpful?

Shane Bryson

Shane finished his master's degree in English literature in 2013 and has been working as a writing tutor and editor since 2009. He began proofreading and editing essays with Scribbr in early summer, 2014.

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Definition of parenthesis noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

parenthesis

Join our community to access the latest language learning and assessment tips from Oxford University Press!

• 2 a word, sentence, etc. that is added to a speech or piece of writing, especially in order to give extra information. In writing, it is separated from the rest of the text using parentheses , commas, or dashes .

Nearby words

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Course: Grammar   >   Unit 7

• Italics and underlining
• Using quotation marks in titles
• Italics, underlines, and quotation marks

Parentheses

• Introduction to parentheses

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Video transcript

Look up a word, learn it forever.

Parenthesis, /pəˈrɛnθəsəs/, /pəˈrɛnθəsɪs/.

Other forms: parentheses; parenthesises

A parenthesis is a tall, curvy punctuation mark used to set off material that isn’t fundamental to the main topic, like an afterthought or an aside (or a funny joke).

Parenthesis marks come in pairs: the plural is spelled “parentheses.” Parentheses look like this: ( ). When you use parentheses to set off material in a sentence, you say that the material is “in parenthesis.” Put something in parentheses if it's a comment, an afterthought, or additional information that is possibly interesting but not essential to the subject. You can also describe something as a parenthesis, like a digressive story about horses in the middle of a political speech.

• noun either of two punctuation marks (or) used to enclose textual material see more see less type of: punctuation , punctuation mark the marks used to clarify meaning by indicating separation of words into sentences and clauses and phrases
• noun a message that departs from the main subject synonyms: aside , digression , divagation , excursus , tangent see more see less type of: content , message , subject matter , substance what a communication that is about something is about

Vocabulary lists containing parenthesis

These punctuation terms are good to know, period. Learn what an apostrophe’s purpose is; find out what a semicolon is for. Are you confused about question marks? Probably not (although you may be mystified by parentheses). This list is sure to make you as excited as an exclamation point!

To improve your fluency in English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR), learn this academic vocabulary list that includes words selected from the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) state standards.

You'll be able to express yourself with style once you learn these rhetorical devices and tropes. This vocabulary list covers a wide range of techniques used in formal speech and writing, from alliteration to zeugma.

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parentheses

• Punctuation marks — ( ) — used to separate elements in a sentence. Parentheses subordinate ( see subordination ) the material within them so that readers save most of their attention for the rest of the sentence: “Aunt Sarah (who is really my mother's cousin) will be visiting next week.”

Discover More

Example sentences.

Danielewski uses experimental typography, elliptical descriptions, and color-coded parentheses.

On my computer, there was a contented little stream of smiley faces, made from colons and parentheses.

Last summer came Between Parentheses: Essays, Articles and Speeches, 1998-2003.

A posthumous collection of his essays, Between Parentheses, will be published in May.

On some reading devices, inline stage directions are set off from the text by parentheses added by the transcriber.

Clicking on the words in parentheses will take show the text as edited.

Spelling corrections: (number in parentheses) indicate the number of times the word was spelled correctly in the original text.

The numbers in parentheses in the sequel refer to the preliminary propositions above given.

The word "is" in the translations, although marked with parentheses, is not deemed wholly gratuitous.

Table of Contents

Collaboration, information literacy, writing process, parentheses.

• CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 by Julia L. McMillan

Parentheses (also called  brackets  in British English) are a punctuation mark used to contain text that is not part of the main sentence, but that is too important to either leave out entirely or to put in a footnote or an endnote. Since there are many reasons to use parentheses, be sure that the function of parentheses is always made clear to your readers.

Reasons to Use Parentheses

1. To include extra information The first function of parentheses is to offer extra information. Parentheses communicate to readers that the material inside the parentheses is not necessary to understand the main sentence, nor is it part of the grammar of the main sentence, but is pertinent enough to be included. In the example sentences below, the parenthetical text is not necessary for either the grammatical or the logical completeness of the sentence, but offers some extra, closely related information that the writer felt the reader should have.

This information may be a scientific fact: “The liquid was brought to 212° F (the boiling point of water) and then poured into molds.”

A birth date, death date, or range of dates: “The anarcho-feminist Emma Goldman (b. 1869) was largely forgotten after her death, but experienced a huge resurgence of notoriety in the 1970s.”

A political party affiliation or title: “Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced his candidacy for president in Burlington, Vermont, on Tuesday, May 26, 2015.”

Or simply non-essential information: “My sister (according to Emily, who considers herself almost another parent) has always been the smartest person in the family.”

Simple non-essential information can also be formatted using long dashes, known as em-dashes . Please note that there are no spaces before or after em-dashes: “My sister—according to Emily, who considers herself almost another parent—has always been the smartest person in the family.”

Parenthetical text can, in addition to being set off with em-dashes or parentheses, be denoted using commas. However, if there are other commas in the sentence, this method of punctuation can become ambiguous, as in the following example: “My sister, according to Emily, who considers herself almost another parent, has always been the smartest person in the family.”

Here, the use of commas as the sole punctuation mark makes it unclear who “considers herself almost another parent”: “my sister” or Emily.

2. To cite authors There are many different formats for citing authors and sources within a scholarly text. Many of these formats request that information such as authors’ names and year of publication be given in a parenthetical citation.

When providing citations, be sure that it is clear to your readers what exactly the citation pertains to. For example:

“The proportional carbon content of this component, 20%, is very similar to that found in pine trees (Winston et al. 2010),” implies that the present study has replicated Winston et al.’s prior finding regarding the carbon content of pine trees.

In contrast: “The proportional carbon content of this component, 20%, is very similar to that found in pine trees (See Winston et al. 2010 for a detailed description of the analyses)” clarifies that Winston et al. established the method by which this analysis was carried out, but may not have necessarily had the same findings.

3. To introduce abbreviations The first time that an abbreviation appears in the main text, it should appear within parentheses next to its full form:

“Interest rates at First Regional Bank (FRB) have risen steadily over the past 20 years, despite FRB’s official corporate policy of offering affordable rates to the community.”

If you offer an abbreviation of a translated term, please specify its original-language form in a parenthetical citation, in italics. This prevents confusion around abbreviations that don’t seem to be logically related to the words they stand for. For example:

“The unexpected closure of the National Development Bank (BND; Banco Nacional de Desarrollo ) wreaked havoc on the economy.”

4. To translate words or short phrases Use parentheses to translate a word or a short phrase into English. For example:

“The Japanese title of Sensei (teacher) conveys the honor and respect accorded to older and wiser members of society.”

Note that Sensei is italicized to clearly denote the non-English word or words being defined.

“Germans wish each other a ‘Guten Rutsch’ (good slide) into the new year.”

Note that, in this second example, the words being defined are a direct, spoken quotation, indicated by quotation marks. Since the quotation marks clearly denote what text is being translated, italics are not needed.

5. To give examples Use parentheses to offer examples. When using parentheses for this purpose, always preface your list with “e.g.” or other clarifying text.

“While my doctor was glad to hear that I regularly engage in plenty of strength-building physical activities (e.g., yoga, Pilates, and rock climbing), she was concerned that I don’t do anything very aerobic.”

6. To define or restate a word Use parentheses when you think that readers may benefit from a brief definition or restatement of a word. Such parenthetical text can be a good idea when a word has many possible different definitions, or when you are using a discipline-specific word with an audience who may not be familiar with it. The following example illustrates not only a word that has many alternative meanings, but one that is being used in a way that is likely not familiar to most readers:

“Sports gamblers can spend hours debating the spread (i.e., the number of points between the winner and the loser) of a big upcoming game.”

7. To introduce terms Use parentheses to introduce terms; i.e., words or phrases that have a clearly defined meaning or scope. Terms presented parenthetically are italicized. For example, in the sentence, “Patients were asked to give examples of bad experiences ( trauma ) they had experienced as children,” trauma is situationally defined as referring to “bad experiences.” In a paper discussing trauma, a precise and consistent definition of this term ensures that readers do not apply one of the many other logical definitions of the word “trauma.”

Note that “i.e.” can also be used instead of parentheses to denote explanations of terms:

“Patients were asked to give examples of bad experiences, i.e., trauma , they had experienced as children.”

8. To interrupt The final reason to use parenthetical text is to convey an interruption or an aside. This is common in literature, when reproducing spoken words: “Now, just as the princess was beginning to think that all was lost—yes, Hattie, the princess’s name was Jenny, just like your dolly—she heard a thunderous knock at the front door.”

Interruptions may also be appropriate in very informal scholarly writing: “English is a difficult language to learn (although, according to a number of prominent linguists, it is not even among the top ten hardest, globally), especially for those who have neither a Romance nor a Germanic native tongue.”

However, too many interruptions make it hard for readers to follow your paper’s logic or grammar, and may indicate organizational problems. If you really think that it would be helpful to readers to insert such an unrelated piece of information, a footnote or endnote may be less distracting.

Tips on Parentheses Usage

Whatever the function of your parenthetical text, be sure to place it as close as possible to the word or words that it is supplementing, citing, abbreviating, translating, exemplifying, defining, or restating.

Parenthetical text must stand completely outside of the grammar of the main sentence. To test this, simply remove or insert the parenthetical text. If the sentence’s grammar becomes incorrect or its meaning changes, your parenthetical text is not truly parenthetical.

Sometimes the grammatical and logical separateness of parenthetical text can be deceptive. For example, the sentence “High heels are (particularly) dangerous in wintery weather” really makes two separate statements:

• High heels are dangerous in wintery weather.
• High heels are always dangerous, but particularly so in wintery weather.

While these two meanings are similar, they are different: the first argues for the dangers of high heels in a specific weather condition, while the second implies that high heels are always dangerous. The writer of this sentence needs to review the point that they are arguing: Is the argument that high heels are dangerous in the winter, or that high heels are always dangerous? Failing to correct fuzzy distinctions like these can contribute to muddy logic and hard-to-follow papers.

Using parentheses to compress multiple ideas into a single sentence is also discouraged. For example, a writer might want to compress “We were interested in the advantages of a long-format interview, as well as the disadvantages of a short-format interview” into the more succinct “We were interested in the advantages (disadvantages) of a long (short)-format interview.” Although such a shorthand version may be clear to insiders or appropriate for informal contexts, its logical ambiguity and nonstandard grammar preclude it from use in formal scholarly writing.

Finally, when writing a paper or other scholarly text, parentheses should not be used to indicate sarcasm, or to snidely editorialize. Take the following sentence: “While the Stop and Frisk policy has been (barely) effective in reducing crime, it does so at a great social cost.” Here, the author indirectly grumbles about this policy, but adopts an unprofessional tone and does not fully explain their reasoning, reducing the impact of the argument. A more effective tactic is to say exactly what you mean: “The Stop and Frisk policy has been estimated to reduce crime, at most, by less than one percent, and at the social cost of thousands of humiliating and unnecessary public searches.”

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Parenthesis

Definition of parenthesis, examples of parenthesis in literature, example #1: one art (by elizabeth bishop).

“—Even losing you (the joking voice , a gesture I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident the art of losing’s not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.”

Example #2: The Elements of Style (By William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White)

“It is now necessary to warn you that your concern for the reader must be pure: you must sympathize with the reader’s plight (most readers are in trouble about half the time) but never seek to know the reader’s wants. Your whole duty as a writer is to please and satisfy yourself…”

The style guidebook provides parenthetical information several times. Here, you can see how the authors have explained the reader’s plight by giving descriptive sentence in brackets, showing how readers are in trouble.

Example #3: The Dogwood Tree: A Boyhood (By John Updike)

“A little gravel alley, too small to be marked with a street sign but known in the neighborhood as Shilling Alley, wound hazardously around our property and on down, past an untidy sequence of back buildings (chicken houses, barns out of plumb, a gun shop, a small lumber mill, a shack where a blind man lived, and the enchanted grotto of a garage whose cement floors had been waxed to the luster of ebony by oil drippings … silver water so cold it made your front teeth throb) on down to Lancaster Avenue, the main street, where the trolley cars ran.”

Example #4: The Horse and His Boy (By C. S. Lewis)

“[I]n Calormen, story -telling (whether the stories are true or made up) is a thing you’re taught, just as English boys and girls are taught essay -writing. The difference is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays.”

Here, Lewis uses round brackets to describe the story, specifying whether they are true or made up. He means to say that people like to listen to a story, which are not taught as are essays. Hence, essays seem boring.

Example #5: Lights Out for the Territory (By Iain Sinclair)

” ‘Black dog’ is the mood of bottomless, suicidal despair suffered, most notoriously, by Winston Churchill (himself a kind of bulldog in nappies, a logo for Empire; growling and dribbling, wheezing smoke, swollen veins fired with brandy).”

Function of Parenthesis

Parenthesis also offers readers an insight into true feelings and opinions of characters and narrators , while they might tend to evade parenthetical information as unimportant. Doing this, parenthesis could leave them clueless to the actual purpose of a sentence. In addition, it often creates humorous effect by using hyperbole and understatements.

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Parentheses, Braces, and Brackets in Math

How These Symbols Help Determine the Order of Operations

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You'll come across many symbols in mathematics and arithmetic. In fact, the language of math is written in symbols, with some text inserted as needed for clarification. Three important—and related—symbols you'll see often in math are parentheses, brackets , and braces, which you'll encounter frequently in  prealgebra  and  algebra . That's why it's so important to understand the specific uses of these symbols in higher math.

Using Parentheses ( )

Parentheses are used to group numbers or variables, or both. When you see a math problem containing parentheses, you need to use the order of operations to solve it. For example, take the problem: 9 - 5 ÷ (8 - 3) x 2 + 6

For this problem, you must calculate the operation within the parentheses first—even if it's an operation that would normally come after the other operations in the problem. In this problem, the multiplication and division operations would normally come before subtraction (minus), however, since 8 - 3 falls within the parentheses, you'd work out this part of the problem first. Once you've taken care of the calculation that falls within the parentheses, you'd remove them. In this case (8 - 3) becomes 5, so you would solve the problem as follows:

9 - 5 ÷ (8 - 3) x 2 + 6

= 9 - 5 ÷ 5 x 2 + 6

= 9 - 1 x 2 + 6

= 9 - 2 + 6

= 7 + 6

Note that per the order of operations, you'd work what's in the parentheses first, next, calculate numbers with exponents, and then multiply and/or divide, and finally, add or subtract. Multiplication and division, as well as addition and subtraction, hold an equal place in the order of operations, so you work these from left to right.

In the problem above, after taking care of the subtraction in the parentheses, you need to first divide 5 by 5, yielding 1; then multiply 1 by 2, yielding 2; then subtract 2 from 9, yielding 7; and then add 7 and 6, yielding a final answer of 13.

Parentheses Can Also Mean Multiplication

In the problem: 3(2 + 5), the parentheses tell you to multiply. However, you wouldn't multiply until you complete the operation inside the parentheses—2 + 5—so you would solve the problem as follows:

3(2 + 5)

Examples of Brackets [ ]

Brackets are used after the parentheses to group numbers and variables as well. Typically, you'd use the parentheses first, then brackets, followed by braces. Here is an example of a problem using brackets:

 4 - 3[4 - 2(6 - 3)] ÷ 3

= 4 - 3[4 - 2(3)] ÷ 3 (Do the operation in the parentheses first; leave the parentheses.)

= 4 - 3[4 - 6] ÷ 3 (Do the operation in the brackets.)

= 4 - 3[-2] ÷ 3 (The bracket informs you to multiply the number within, which is -3 x -2.)

= 4 + 6 ÷ 3

= 4 + 2

Examples of Braces { }

Braces are also used to group numbers and variables. This example problem uses parentheses, brackets, and braces. Parentheses inside other parentheses (or brackets and braces) are also referred to as " nested parentheses ." Remember, when you have parentheses inside brackets and braces, or nested parentheses, always work from the inside out:

 2{1 + [4(2 + 1) + 3]}

= 2{1 + [4(3) + 3]}

= 2{1 + [12 + 3]}

= 2{1 + [15]}

= 2{16}

Notes About Parentheses, Brackets, and Braces

Parentheses, brackets, and braces are sometimes referred to as "round," "square," and "curly" brackets, respectively. Braces are also used in sets, as in:

{2, 3, 6, 8, 10...}

When working with nested parentheses, the order will always be parentheses, brackets, braces, as follows:

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Meaning of parentheses in English

Translations of parentheses.

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Word of the Day

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a long period when there is little or no rain

Fakes and forgeries (Things that are not what they seem to be)

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