If I finish a sentence with a bracket should the full stop be inside or outside the bracket? For example, is it .) or ).
1 Answer
May 15, 2016
Outside the bracket, every time.
Explanation:
In the example you give, you are using parentheses, not brackets. Either way, though, the full stop belongs outside.
Parentheses bookend a word or clause that can be removed from the sentence and it will still make perfect sense; putting the period, question mark, etc. inside leaves you with no indication that the sentence ends, just the parenthetical.
Brackets indicate that (within a quote) someone other than the speaker is inserting a comment, or (within any other text) that someone other than the author is commenting, perhaps an editor or moderator. Either way, you still need a full stop outside those brackets.
