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Use Brackets and Dashes for Parenthesis

In this worksheet, students will practise using brackets and dashes to add parentheses to sentences.

'Use Brackets and Dashes for Parenthesis' worksheet

Key stage:  KS 2

Year:  Year 5 English worksheets

Curriculum topic:   Writing: Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation

Curriculum subtopic:   Parenthesis Awareness

Popular topics:   Punctuation worksheets, Writing worksheets

Difficulty level:  

Worksheet Overview

A parenthesis is a word or a phrase that is inserted into a sentence to add information or explain something.

 

We generally put extra information inside commas.

 My sister, who is called Emily, loves horses.

 

However, if we want the extra information to stand out more, then dashes or brackets can be used.

My sister - who is called Emily - loves horses.

My sister (who is called Emily) loves horses.

 

girl on a horse

 

Sometimes, people use the word parenthesis to refer to the brackets themselves, but strictly speaking the parenthesis is the information, not the punctuation.

 

The sentence should always make sense without the parenthesis, whether commas, dashes or brackets are used. Dashes are generally more informal, and are often used in emails or other casual writing.

 

The plural of parenthesis is parentheses.

 

In this activity, you will look at how to use these correctly, so if you are ready, let's get started!

 

girl writing

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