Question

Quiz: Dashes, Parentheses, and Hyphens 3:Mechanics

Which choice shows the correct use of parentheses?


As soon as we had finished dinner (it was about 6:30 p.m.), I started my homework.


(As soon as we had finished dinner it was about 6:30 p.m.), I started my homework.


As soon as (we had finished dinner) it was about 6:30 p.m., I started my homework.


As soon as we had finished dinner it was about (6:30 p.m.), I started my homework.

Answer 1

The first answer is correct since you are only supposed to put information that clarifies the sentence in parentheses. Only putting dinner in parentheses wouldn’t make sense since it is a crucial part of the sentence, nor would you only put 6:30pm in parentheses since you already have about outside of the parentheses so saying As soon as we had finished dinner it was about, I started my homework.,Doesn’t make sense that means that even if you put things in parentheses the sentence should still make sense if the parentheses aren’t there.

I hope this makes sense if not please comment and I can try to explain it better :)