[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/parenthesis/)

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# parenthesis

noun (a parenthesis, parentheses)

«parenthesis» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (punctuation) A word, phrase or sentence put into another sentence as extra information, marked by brackets, commas or dashes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/parenthesis/#m1)
2. (US) One of the round brackets ( ). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/parenthesis/#m2)
3. (maths) Round brackets that show which part of a calculation to do first. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/parenthesis/#m3)

### In the lessons

In grammar lessons (UK Key Stage 2), pupils learn parenthesis: extra information marked by brackets, dashes or commas, as in «My dog (who is very old) sleeps a lot». In maths, operations inside parentheses are done first (BIDMAS, BODMAS, PEMDAS). Phrases: «in parentheses», «use parenthesis», «brackets for parenthesis».

### Examples

- My cat, who is very lazy, sleeps all day — this is parenthesis with commas. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/parenthesis/#x1)
- Put extra information in parentheses (like this). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/parenthesis/#x2)
- In maths, work out the parentheses first: (3 + 4) × 2 = 14. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/parenthesis/#x3)
- Use dashes for parenthesis — they make it stand out. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/parenthesis/#x4)
- The teacher asked us to add a parenthesis to our sentence. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/parenthesis/#x5)
- In the US, ( ) are called parentheses; in the UK they are usually «brackets». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/parenthesis/#x6)

### Note

Plural «parentheses» (-is → -es, like crisis/crises). Adjective «parenthetical». Maths: (2 + 3) × 4 = 20 but 2 + 3 × 4 = 14 — brackets change the answer. Trap: in UK school grammar «parenthesis» means the extra phrase itself; in US use it often means the bracket marks.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «parenthesis» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/parenthesis/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«parenthesis» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/parenthesis.html) on Mova free.