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and ) are parentheses / p ə ˈ r ɛ n θ ɪ s iː z / (singular parenthesis / p ə ˈ r ɛ n θ ɪ s ɪ s /) in American English, and either round brackets or simply brackets in British English. [1] [4] They are also known as "parens" / p ə ˈ r ɛ n z /, "circle brackets", or "smooth brackets". In formal writing, "parentheses" is also used ...
Brackets: Angle bracket, Parenthesis • Bullet: Interpunct ‸ ⁁ ⎀ Caret (proofreading) Caret (computing) (^) Chevron (non-Unicode name) Caret, Circumflex, Guillemet, Hacek, Glossary of mathematical symbols ^ Circumflex (symbol) Caret (The freestanding circumflex symbol is known as a caret in computing and mathematics)
Square brackets are also often used in place of a second set of parentheses when they are nested—so as to provide a visual distinction. In mathematical expressions in general, parentheses are also used to indicate grouping (i.e., which parts belong together) when edible to avoid ambiguities and improve clarity.
This section applies to both round brackets ( ), often called parentheses, and square brackets [ ]. If a sentence contains a bracketed phrase, place the sentence punctuation outside the brackets (as shown here). However, where one or more sentences are wholly inside brackets, place their punctuation inside the brackets.
For example, in the expression 3(x+y) the parentheses are symbols of grouping, but in the expression (3, 5) the parentheses may indicate an open interval. The most common symbols of grouping are the parentheses and the square brackets, and the latter are usually used to avoid too many repeated parentheses.
Parenthetical expressions are usually delimited by round brackets (also known as parentheses), square brackets, dashes, or commas. English-language style and usage guides originating in the news industry of the twentieth century , such as the AP Stylebook , recommend against the use of square brackets for parenthesis and other purposes, because ...
The round brackets indicate optional constituents. Beginning with the sentence symbol S, and applying the phrase structure rules successively, finally applying replacement rules to substitute actual words for the abstract symbols, it is possible to generate many proper sentences of English (or whichever language the rules are specified for).
There are several issues of writing style that are particularly relevant in mathematical writing. In the interest of clarity, sentences should not begin with a symbol. Do not write: Suppose that G is a group. G can be decomposed into cosets, as follows. Let H be the corresponding subgroup of G. H is then finite. Instead, write something like: