: Re: Do parentheses inhibit clarity? I find it easier to write many things with parentheses, but I don't know if this is considered good practice. I would expect some might say that parentheses are

@Murray165

Vote Up Vote Down

I like what Theodore Bernstein says in "The Careful Writer" (original copyright 1965):

There is some evidence that the use of parentheses has become more common in modern writing, particularly in critical and expository writing. Parentheses seem almost to have become a mark of "sophisticated," knowing style. They do have their uses in simplifying sentences that otherwise would be encumbered with ponderous subordinate and coordinate clauses and in permitting the use of pointed asides that might otherwise seem overemphatic. But, like every other stylistic device, they can be overdone.

Also, you should be able to lift out what is inside a set of parentheses and still have a grammatical, understandable sentence left behind. I personally think they are overused.

(0)

Login to post a comment!