How do you use square brackets in quotes?
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How do you use square brackets in quotes?
Use square brackets, not parentheses, to enclose material such as an addition or explanation you have inserted in a quotation. If you want to emphasize a word or words in a quotation, use italics. Immediately after the italicized words, insert “emphasis added” within square brackets as follows: [emphasis added].
What does it mean when a word is in square brackets in a quote?
Brackets, sometimes called square brackets, are most often used to show that words have been added to a direct quotation. Sometimes, when quoting a person or document, adding a word or two is necessary to provide enough context for the quote to make sense.
Can you replace words in a quote with square brackets?
Often, square brackets can be used to replace text in a quotation to make the quotation clearer for the reader. For example: Hedy Lamarr once said: “Most people save all their lives and leave [their money] to somebody else.” (The text in the square brackets replaces the word “it,” which was used by Hedy Lamarr.)
What are square brackets used for?
Square brackets, often just called brackets in American English, are a set of punctuation marks that are most often used to alter or add information to quoted material.
What are square brackets used for in writing?
Square brackets are used, usually in books and articles, when supplying words that make a quotation clearer or that comment on it, although they were not originally said or written.
What are square brackets for?
Why are some words bracketed in quotes?
Brackets: In a paper, use brackets to signify important information added to direct quotes. The brackets tell the reader that the information is added to further explain the quote.
How do you use brackets to change a quote?
Use Brackets
- Use brackets to show any changes made to quotations in order to retain grammatical correctness.
- Use brackets in quotes to add a word, prefix, or suffix in order to fit the quote into your sentence.
- Use brackets to change the tense of a verb in a quote so that it will fit into your sentence.
What do [] mean in writing?
What do square brackets mean in writing?
Use square brackets to include words within a quote that are not part of the original quote. For example, if a quoted passage is not entirely clear, words enclosed in square brackets can be added to clarify the meaning.
In which cases should you use square brackets?
Typically, the most common reason you would need to use square brackets has to do with quotations. All style guides, grammar resources, and ethical guidelines will tell you that it is not acceptable to change the wording of a quote so as to change its meaning or attribute words to a person that they never said.
What does [] mean around a letter?
Typically this indicates that the passage was part of a quoted text in which the initial letter was not at the beginning of the sentence.
How do you capitalize a letter in a quote?
Capitalize the first letter of a direct quote when the quoted material is a complete sentence. Mr. Johnson, who was working in his field that morning, said, “The alien spaceship appeared right before my own two eyes.”
Why do quotes have brackets?
In a paper, use brackets to signify important information added to direct quotes. The brackets tell the reader that the information is added to further explain the quote. The use of brackets may come in a few forms: 1.
Why are [] used in sentences?
Square brackets (also called brackets, especially in American English) are mainly used to enclose words added by someone other than the original writer or speaker, typically in order to clarify the situation: He [the police officer] can’t prove they did it.
