First off, I'm not stupid. English IS my first language and once upon a time I did know this.I read a lot and I see a lot of different ways they're written. I know about clauses and where brackets go but I'm just wondering:-Does the comma go after or before the brackets?-When to use a comma (some brackets in the middle of sentences have commas before them but it's not really necessary?)-If a question or an exclamation is in brackets at the end of a sentence does the full stop still go at the end, like !). ?And about quotation marks:-Same as last question on brackets-Full stop inside or outside the quotation marks? I see bothHow ironic I used brackets asking the questions. anyway.Also after ellipsis do you have to capitalize?
In America these ( ) are called parentheses, these [ ] are brackets, and the rules for punctuation may be slightly different in other countries. If you have a complete sentence inside parentheses or quotes and it's also the end of the sentence that contains them, you only need one period, question mark or exclamation point.
If the quote they are saying ends hmm, example. He said, 'you're not old enough.' As if I'm some sort of idiot! The quote he said ends there, if they are picking out certain parts in the middle of a quote, then it doesn't have a full stop. He said, 'you're not old enough', as if I'm some sort of idiot. (Note: the two sentences can create different sound images in your mind. :/) I feelscared. Nothing at all Why do you ask? Different sentences.
I don't even see that balloon on the side anymore. It has NOTHING of value to say -- EVER!! Yep, that sentence did it, a punctuation balloon appeared. Okay, now that was funnyas I typed punctuation, it popped up a balloon complaining that I had 1 misspelling. Apparently it's complaining that I misspelled punctuation while I'm spelling it the same way they are!! On spelling, I can't spell at all, so I installed my own right-click spellchecker since yahoo answers' is inept tends to spin in circles unable to complete a thought. On that note, I think I'm going to go do something more mentally stimulating than this.
Comma before or after brackets: You'd use a comma only if it were necessary if the bracketed material weren't there; it has nothing to do with the material in brackets. When to use a comma? Again, it has nothing to do with the bracketed material. Punctuation in a bracket at the end of a sentence: Fifty years ago, Modern English Usage would have us double punctuating where necessary if a bracket at the end of a sentence required a question mark, and the sentence required a question mark, one was expected to use ?)? Today we avoid the problem if possible, but if we can't avoid it, we just make do with the ? inside the bracket. After an ellipsis capitalize only if what you're quoting is capitalized. If you're not quoting, capitalize only if what follows the would be capitalized if it stood alone. Added: A parenthesis is an aside from the normal construction of the sentence. I think it only confuses the issue to bring the American terminology into it but since it's been introduced, what the British and others call brackets and square brackets, the Americans call parentheses and brackets. Bear with me about parentheses or asides---I think you'll find it helpful regarding punctuation. A parenthesis can be enclosed by (a) commas, (b) brackets, (c) dashes. If you're enclosing your aside in brackets, why would you use commas as well?
