Punctuation: Brackets (Parentheses)

Question 5.2 has arrived:

Thank you very much for your explanation about appositive.

Re the 2 sentences in the question, are they grammatically correct? (For the 2nd question, the punctuation after the word 'piety' should be a dash rather than a question mark.) Can I call this kind of explanatory notes between commas or dashes 'paraphrasing'?

For convenience, let's re-paste the second sentence:

Among some nationalities, one virtue that is highly regarded is filial piety?obedience to and respect for parents.


There are two things wrong with this sentence:

The first relates to question structure: 'one virtue that is highly regarded is filial piety?' is not a question.  It is a sentence, with a question mark added to the end.  To make this a question, you would have to rephrase differently, for example:

Is one virtue that is highly regarded filial piety?

- or (to make to make it a little easy to read) -

Is filial piety a highly regarded virtue?


The second thing wrong is, as you suspected, the punctuation.  I think you have confused yourself by trying to be sophisticated with your English.  The easiest way to punctuate the sentence is by using brackets:

Is filial piety (obedience to and respect for parents) a highly regarded virtue?

Brackets (or parentheses) are the easiest way to add additional or clarifying information in sentences.  The only potential problem with brackets is when they appear at the end of sentences or questions:

Is one virtue that is highly regarded filial piety (obedience to and respect for parents)?

You'll notice that the '?' comes after the second bracket.  This is because the bracketed information is part of the sentence, not separate from it.  This 'double punctuation construction' can cause problems of clarity; particularly in the case of a question.  This is another reason why I would suggest the alternative question structure:

Is filial piety (obedience to and respect for parents) a highly regarded virtue?


I hope that helps.  Any further questions, feel free to ask!

Punctuation: Appositives

Question 5.1 has arrived:

Sorry I didn't make myself clear in my last email.  By paraphrasing myself, I mean explaining concepts in the same sentence using different words.  (Is this a form of paraphrasing?)  For example:

The nuclear family, a family unit consisting of two parents and their children living under one roof, is the most common form of family arrangement in many western countries.

Among some nationalities, one virtue that is highly regarded is filial piety?obedience to and respect for parents.

Are the sentences grammatical.  I believe that this kind of paragraphing is also called appositives in grammar.  Am I correct?


- Ooops!  A small miss-communication problem there, let's take a look at punctuating appositives:


Let's start by defining an appositive:

An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that helps to identify or clarify another noun.  For example:

Michael Schumacher, the F1 racing driver, won the F1 championship more than once.

In this sentence 'the F1 racing driver' is the appositive.


There are two ways to punctuate an appositive, and it depends on the appositive's relationship to & position in the sentence:

1.  The Non-Essential Appositive:

Michael Schumacher, the F1 racing driver, won the F1 championship more than once.

In this sentence the appositive 'the F1 racing driver' is a non-essential element.  This means that you can remove it from the sentence, and the logic of the sentence still makes sense:

Michael Schumacher won the F1 championship more than once.

When the appositive is non-essential, you place it between two commas:

Michael Schumacher, the F1 racing driver, won the F1 championship seven times.

The two commas tell the reader, that the appositive is NOT required to understand the sentence.  It gives the appositive a lower priority in the sentence.  It tells the reader that this information is optional, additional.


2.  The Essential Appositive:

The F1 racing driver Michael Schumacher won the F1 championship more than once.

In this sentence the appositive 'Michael Schumacher' is an essential element.  This means you NEED it in the sentence for the logic of the sentence to make sense.  Let's try removing the appositive from the sentence to see what happens:

The F1 racing driver won the F1 championship more than once.

The sentence is no longer as clear: which F1 driver?  There are several F1 drivers who have won the championship more than once.  We NEED the appositive 'Michael Schumacher' to understand the logic of the sentence clearly.

When the appositive is an essential element, we do NOT punctuate the appositive at all.  There is NO punctuation.

I hope that helps! 

Punctuation: Quoting & Paraphrasing

The fifth question has arrived:

When I paraphrase my own ideas within the same sentence, can I put the paraphrase within two commas or after a colon? Would be grateful for your advice.

I think first we need to make a distinction between 'to quote' and 'to paraphrase':

'To quote' is to take the exact words of another and place them in your own text.  For example:

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

'To paraphrase' is to take the sense / meaning of another and express it in your own words.  For example:

Shakespeare's Macbeth referred to life as a shadow that walked.


When quoting from another source, for long quotations you use a pair of double quotation marks.  For example:

In the words of Macbeth, "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

You'll also notice that I use a comma before I start the quotation.  This reflects the way you would say the sentence.  Typically, people pause before that use a quote in spoken English.  The comma is simply reflecting that fact.

For single word or short quotations, for example:

Shakespeare's Macbeth referred to life as 'a walking shadow'.

This short quotation example is also an example of paraphrasing.  You'll notice that I do NOT use quotation marks until the direct short quotation.  In other words when paraphrasing another source, you do not need to use quotation marks.  For example:

Shakespeare's Macbeth referred to life as a shadow that walked.


In your question, you ask about paraphrasing yourself.  In my opinion, you do not need to use any form of special punctuation to make reference to your own statements.  I would, instead, use words to indicate the nature of the self-reference.  For example:

As I have already said earlier in this article....

As I said in the first paragraph / on the first page...

As I wrote in my previous article / letter....

As I indicated in my letter dated 10 / 11 / 09....


I hope that helps to answer your question.

For further reading, you might like to visit some of these sites:

The Free dictionary definitions of 'to quote' and 'to paraphrase'

For more information regarding the difference between quoting & paraphrasing, check out this useful article.

For more information regarding the use of quotations marks, check out this article and this one.