Parentheses ( ( ) parentheses )

How to use parentheses correctly

Parentheses are used for enclosing words, phrases, or clauses which might not be grammatically related to the rest of the sentence. This may include comments, examples, appositivesNoun phrases are often used to provide more information about, or explanation of, a noun phrase immediately preceding it., numbers or acronymsAn abbreviation of a series of words (usually a noun phrase) consisting of the first letter of each word in the phrase.. Dashes or commas can often serve the same purpose.

Appositives

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (opening parenthesis CDC acronym for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ) closing parenthesis has called insufficient sleep an epidemic.
• The hammerhead species that branched off the earliest is the winghead shark ( opening parenthesis E. blochii scientific species name (genus + epithet) ) closing parenthesis , which has one of the widest heads.
• In insects, these are found only in the scales of weevils, longhorn beetles, butterflies and moths, where they can form intricate arrays of chitin ( opening parenthesis the material that makes up the bulk of the exoskeleton of insects appositive noun phrase explaining what chitin is ) closing parenthesis and air.

Other Examples

• These are animals or other organisms that live on ( opening parenthesis ectoparasites organisms that live on another species are called ectoparasites)closing parenthesis or in ( opening parenthesis endoparasites organisms that live in another species are called endoparasites ) tooltip another species.
• Since the 1960s we have known that new ocean crust is being created almost continuously along giant rifts ( opening parenthesis called mid-ocean ridges an ed-clause postmodifying "rifts" ) closing parenthesis.
• At the bottom of the plates, around 60 miles ( opening parenthesis 100 kilometers an approximate conversion from 60 miles ) closing parenthesis deep, the temperature is about 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit ( opening parenthesis 1,300 degrees Celsius an approximate conversion from 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit ) closing parenthesis.