BRACKETS FIDGE 32-33

FIDGE P. 32-33   BRACKETS AND HYPHENS

Please note: due to the concert tomorrow, we might not have our regular classes.  Please study the content below and leave a message if something is unclear.  Best regards, your teacher.

BRACKETS are punctuation marks that enclose information to show that it is separate from everything around it.  BRACKETS are different from COMMA PAIRS, in the sense that BRACKETS include information that could be left out, while information enclosed in COMMA PAIRS are valid to the meaning of the sentence.

GETTING STARTED.

1B. Brackets are useful punctuation marks. They are often used in a similar way to a pair of commas.

c. Tower Bridge is quite and old bridge. It opens up to let ships pass along the river.

d. The temperature was below freezing and the water for the sheep was frozen. Snow lay everywhere.

c. The shoes were very expensive. They were made from the best leather.

2a. The picture (shown on page 7) is of an aeroplane landing.

b. Commas (like brackets) are often used in pairs.

c. You will find ants practically everywhere (except on the summits of very high mountains).

d. When a liquid evaporates (changes into a gas) it draws off heat.

e. If you eat a balanced diet you will get all the vitamins you need (with the possible exception of Vitamin D).

p.33

1a. clean-shaven (= having no stubble in the beard area)

b. house-trained (= goes outside for its latrine habits)

c. man-eating mammoth (= eats humans)

d. football-mad (= is very keen on football)

e. sweet-tasting (=tastes sweet)

1a. A mean person is often tight-fisted (doesn’t want to give financially).

b. A person who steals is light-fingered (when he steals quickly and with swift movements).

c. A surprised person may be wide-eyed.

d. Someone who is nervous may be tongue-tied.

Punctuation:

1.     Ben Sam’s floppy-eared dog was barking.

2.     The monster (with the flashing blue-green eyes) ate anything it could find.

3.     “Do you know the way to the market?” asked the stranger as he parked his car (a blue hatchback).

4.     “Don’t touch that button!”,  shouted the worried-looking detective. “It might be dangerous.”

5.     Much of London, including the original St Paul’s Cathedral, was destroyed in The Great Fire (which happened in 1666).  [Explanation: comma pairs are used for the cathedral, because it was one of the buildings that were destroyed;  the last part of the sentence is in brackets, because it is not essential to understanding the rest.

IN PARENTHESIS is the same as IN BRACKETS.