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Where should the period go when using parentheses? For example:

In sentence one, I use this example (which has a parenthesis at the end.)

Should the period be inside, or outside of the parentheses? What about if the entire sentence is a parenthetical (as below)?

(Where does the terminal punctuation go here?)

Is there a hard and fast rule?

James Waldby - jwpat7
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Chris Smith
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    Same logic as this, methinks: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/7548/why-should-end-punctuation-go-inside-quotes – sje397 Feb 02 '11 at 23:57
  • @sje397 Not quite. For quotation marks, several conventions exist (mainly en-UK vs. en-US). But parentheses are always placed in the same way (see JSBang’s answer). – Konrad Rudolph Mar 07 '11 at 07:22
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    @Konrad - true. But, I am a programmer, so there's only one that makes sense to me ;) – sje397 Mar 08 '11 at 03:21

7 Answers7

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The best rule of thumb for punctuating in and around parenthetical remarks is that the sentence should be valid if you remove the parentheses and everything inside them.

Here I have an example (with a parenthetical remark).

Here is the same example (with the same remark, even.)

Removing the entire parenthetical remark from the first sentence still leaves me with a valid structure, while removing it from the second leaves me lacking any terminal punctuation; thus the first is correct.

References:

Hellion
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    How about this one: I like bananas (but why?). Period looks kind of extraneous there... – StasM Sep 14 '11 at 20:13
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    What about when emphasis is needed on the parenthetical statement, but not the entire sentence? e.g. The cops caught a thief (the one who stole your wallet!). Wouldn't you say the exclamation point goes inside the parenthesis then? – bobobobo Jul 16 '12 at 00:06
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    I know this is an old Q&A post but I'd like to ask. I distinctly remember learning in grade school (likely over 10 years ago) that punctuation goes within the parenthesis. I'm not claiming this to be wrong. Instead, has this rule always been true or not really defined until the past 15 years or so? Maybe my grammar books were just wrong? – RLH Oct 28 '16 at 15:04
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    I would expect your grammar book to say that terminal punctuation always goes inside the quotation marks (assuming "American-style" quoting, at least), but not to say the same of parentheses. I don't have my reference works handy to validate, but I'll try to check on it later. – Hellion Oct 28 '16 at 15:12
  • @StasM Good example... I know it looks kind of weird, but I guess its logical... – Abraham Murciano Benzadon May 10 '17 at 17:14
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    @RLH I wouldn't trust English teachers on this kind of thing... they usually just say what they think is intuitively right. I would take the most logical answer (i.e. this one). Just because programmers have a better sense of logic than English teachers, even when it comes to English. (After all, if you're on stack exchange, who do you expect to answer if not a programmer?) – Abraham Murciano Benzadon May 10 '17 at 17:19
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    @bobobobo That's what StasM was saying... According to him (or her?) there should also be a period after the parenthesis. – Abraham Murciano Benzadon May 10 '17 at 17:23
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    On a related off-topic note, in Polish only the second version would be correct. It kinda bugs me, as it doesn't seem logical, but that's the way it is. – Szymon Feb 21 '19 at 10:14
  • Not to resurrect an ancient threat, but I am in a pickle here. Here is my sentence: I love animals (dogs, cats, monkeys, etc.). -Do I put a period after etc. and also outside the parenthesis? – Ryan Mar 08 '20 at 03:56
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    @Ryan I would say yes; the rule is that where an abbreviation at the end of a sentence would cause a double-period, a single period instead suffices; however, this is not a double-period but a period-parenthesis-period, so it should remain as is. (Of course, if you replace "etc." with "and so forth", you can avoid the question completely.) – Hellion Mar 08 '20 at 05:12
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If only part of the sentence is parenthetical, then you put the final punctuation outside of the parenthesis:

I enjoy breakfast (sometimes).

If the entire sentence is parenthetical, then you put the punctuation inside the parenthesis.

I enjoy breakfast. (I enjoy lunch more.)

zoe
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JSBձոգչ
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Place the period logically when parentheses are involved. In the first example, the period goes outside because the single sentence ends after the parentheses. In the second example, it goes inside because it belongs to the second sentence.

I like apples (and bananas).

He likes apples. (I like bananas.)

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Well, I prefer using the British logic for placing periods even though I'm not only American, but I live in Texas. Since I don't want to portray myself as an ignorant person, I think a lot of textual decency. While I place my periods outside the quotation marks, I'm left feeling haunted by the idea that an American might think I'm the ignorant one since I'm putting periods after closing quotes when the text being quoted is part of the structure of the sentence itself, not a dialogue in a story nor a quotation of a complete sentence.

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Another "hard and fast" rule for placing the period, if you may: For a complete sentence, leave the period within the parentheses; for a phrase or clause in a sentence, leave the period without.

Jimi Oke
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I have an example sentence (which ends with parenthesis).

is correct, since you are writing the description of the word 'sentence' in the parenthesis and your sentence actually ends after that description.

It is like,

The cops caught a thief (the one who stole your wallet).

Rohan Shah
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Put the period outside the parentheses if what's inside is a subordinate or dependent clause (meaning that it could not stand on its own as a sentence).

Put the period inside the parentheses if what's inside is an independent clause (this means that it could stand on its own.)

MT_Head
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  • Note that I wrote these sentences as examples of the rules they describe (in the first, the clause is dependent; in the second, it's independent.) I hoped they might serve as a bit of a mnemonic. – MT_Head Jul 07 '12 at 05:49
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    What about the ending punctuation for the sentence in your second example? According to "The Grammar Bible" by Michael Stumpf, p. 537: "The punctuation for parenthetical items remains within the parentheses. Punctuate the primary portion of the sentence as if the parenthetical portion were not there." – JLG Jul 07 '12 at 19:54
  • @JLG - Taken at face value, that can lead to double punctuation, which is generally considered undesirable (what if the parenthetical portion is a question?). If that's not a problem for you, go with Stumpf. – MT_Head Jul 07 '12 at 20:21
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    Yes, it does lead to double punctuation...which is what you did with your sentence in your reply to me. So why would you object to a period at the end of the second example sentence? – JLG Jul 07 '12 at 20:38
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    @JLG - I did that on purpose, as a demonstration. I dislike it; perhaps you don't. The rule I put forward is the one I learned in school, and the one I follow myself (when, of course, I'm paying sufficient attention). I am aware that there are other rules in circulation, such as Stumpf's. I don't agree with them, but I don't think it's a terribly huge deal: meaning and clarity are generally not lost either way. – MT_Head Jul 07 '12 at 21:22
  • I suppose I like it then, and it makes sense to me to punctuate the main sentence properly. After all, what's parenthetical should be able to be lifted out and leave a grammatically correct and correctly punctuated sentence. I don't agree that the double punctuation is "generally considered undesirable." (And it is the rule I learned in school.) – JLG Jul 08 '12 at 01:45