Brackets and Dashes for Extra Information

Adding a little extra

Sometimes you want to drop a small bit of extra information into a sentence. You can wrap it in brackets ( ) or in a pair of dashes —. ✏️

My dog (a spaniel) loves walks. 🐶

My dog — a spaniel — loves walks.

Both sentences tell us the same thing: the dog is a spaniel.

Brackets ( )

Brackets, also called parentheses, tuck the extra part away quietly. Always use them in a pair: one to open, one to close.

Sentence	Extra information
Mars (the red planet) is dusty.	the red planet 🔴
The cake (made by Gran) was tasty.	made by Gran 🍰

Dashes —

A pair of dashes does the same job, but the extra part stands out a little more.

Tom — my brother — can swim. 🏊

We won — at last — the cup. 🏆

The take-it-out test

Here is a clever check. Take the extra part out. If the sentence still makes sense, your brackets or dashes are in the right place. ✅

The cake (made by Gran) was tasty. → The cake was tasty. ✅

It still works! That tells you made by Gran really is just extra.

Always in pairs

You always need two marks: one to open the extra part and one to close it. Never leave one half on its own. 🔗

Play and practise

Play the matching game to spot the extra part. Then flip the flashcards to try the take-it-out test.

Keep going

Try these next:

• Pauses: Commas in Lists
• Openers: Commas After Openers

Now you can add neat extra details! ✨ Great work! 🌟