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Myriora English › Grammar and punctuation › Chapter 4: Punctuation

Brackets, dashes and commas for extra information

Ages 9–11Chapter 4 · Lesson 9

In this lesson

Your turn

Which sentence uses brackets correctly?

Show the answer

The brackets go round our teacher. Cover it up, and the sentence still makes sense.

The common mistake

Here's a common mistake. Lots of people use just one comma, or one bracket. Extra information needs a pair: one before it, and one after it.

Try it at home

Add a secret fact: say a plain sentence (Grandad makes pancakes.) and the other person adds extra information in the middle (Grandad, who is a great cook, makes pancakes.). Write it three ways: brackets, dashes, commas.

Read the whole lesson

Hello, and welcome to Myriora English! Sometimes we add extra information in the middle of a sentence. This is called parenthesis. The sentence still makes sense without it.

There are three ways to mark it. Brackets can go round it. Dashes can go round it too. Or you can use a pair of commas. All three work.

To check, cover up the extra information. My uncle lives in Spain. It still makes sense, so the marks are in the right place.

Let's try one together. Which part is the extra information? Our cat, a fluffy ginger tom, sleeps all day. Say it out loud!

A fluffy ginger tom! Cover it up, and our cat sleeps all day still makes sense. Well done if you said that!

Here's a common mistake. Lots of people use just one comma, or one bracket. Extra information needs a pair: one before it, and one after it.

Your turn! Which sentence uses brackets correctly? Pick the right card. You've got eight seconds, or pause the video. Go!

Time's up! The brackets go round our teacher. Cover it up, and the sentence still makes sense.

Quick review. Parenthesis is extra information in a sentence. Mark it with brackets, dashes or a pair of commas. Always use a pair, and check the sentence makes sense without it. See you next time!