Brackets
Brackets are a fairly uncommon punctuation mark, but they do have more than one use.
Quotations
The main use of brackets is in quotations: they can be used to clarify quotes.
For example, say you want to quote the following passage:
“I finally got to meet him today. I had a really great time with him. He was a lot taller than expected, though.”
Maybe you don’t want to use this whole passage or want to add clarity.
You might write:
“I finally got to meet [Trent] today.” Here, the brackets replace him and explain who the word him references.
When you can, avoid brackets, however.
Instead of writing “[Trent] was a lot taller than expected,” you might write:
Trent is “a lot taller than expected.”
The brackets let the reader know that while the word Trent wasn’t in the original quote, his name was implied there. When using brackets, be careful not to change the original meaning of the quote.
Using Brackets for Typos and Errors
Another use of brackets is when there is a spelling or informational error in the original quote. In those cases you use [sic], which means that the typo was in the original source of the quote.
- The report stated, “The new policy will effect [sic] all employees starting next month.”
- Here, [sic] is denoting that the misuse of effect rather than affect is part of the original quote.
- In the opinion article, the writer said, “The goverment [sic] should focus more on environmental policies.”
- Here, [sic] is denoting the misspelling of the word government in the original quote.