Brackets are used to modify direct quotes for clarity or minor adjustments in grammar. Brackets also let authors insert commentary in the middle of someone’s quote and they allow writers to place parenthetical references inside of another parenthetical reference.

Using brackets correctly and strategically shows sophistication in writing as well as an ethical awareness of appropriate use of quotes. While brackets are incredibly valuable, you’ll want to use them sparingly in your writing.

Terms You Need to Know When Using Apostrophes

QUOTE: A quote is something said verbatim by someone other than the author. Quotes are not paraphrases, but rather the exact words said by someone. At times, brackets are needed to modify an exact quote in order to make sense or clarify a quote.

[SIC]: “Sic” is a Latin term meaning “thus.” We use “sic” in brackets when we quote someone that had an error in their original quote. Using [sic] in our writing lets readers know that we acknowledge the original error, that we wanted to leave it there, and that we didn’t make the error.

PARENTHETICAL MATERIAL: Parenthetical material simply refers to content you included between parentheses. When you include an aside, or information that isn’t pertinent to the meaning of the sentence, you can put it in parentheses. At times (though don’t do this often) you can put parenthetical material inside of parenthetical material. To do this, use brackets around the parenthetical content already inside parentheses.

5 Ways to Use Brackets

Insert Comments from Someone Other than the Person Speaking
Modify Quoted Nouns & Pronouns to Fit the Sentence or to Clarify
Insert [sic] to Show Original Error
Identify Added Emphasis that Was Not in Original Quote
Insert Parenthetical Material Inside Parenthetical Material

1. Insert Comments Inside Quote

DESCRIPTION
If you need to insert your own comments (as the author) inside a direct quote of someone else, you can use brackets to indicate that the inserted comments are yours, not the person’s being quoted.

APPLICATION
To insert comments inside a quote, be sure that you have quotation marks at the beginning and end of the quote; then, where you insert your comments, include a left bracket and a right bracket on both sides of your comment.

EXAMPLE
Philbert said with concern, “but Xavier [that’s the guy who frosts the donuts] is on a diet!”
(In this sentence, the author is quoting Philbert, but is inserting a comment to clarify who Xavier is. Philbert did not say what is in brackets—the author of this sentence did.)

2. Modify Quoted Nouns & Pronouns

DESCRIPTION
At times, you may need to fix a noun or pronoun to make a quote clearer to your reader. For example, if you are using a direct quote where a pronoun (like he, his, hers, or theirs) is used, you might need to change the pronoun to a person’s name so that your reader understands who you are talking about.

APPLICATION
To modify a noun or pronoun within a direct quote, simply change the noun or pronoun and put a left and right bracket on each side of the word.

EXAMPLE
The plaintiff, who was allergic to maple, flatly accused Bubba of “adding maple to the bacon just to make sure [Bubba] would get it all to himself.”
(In this sentence, the author modified the direct quote, inserting “Bubba” instead of the original “he.” If the author used “he” in this sentence, the reader may not know if Bubba would get the bacon or someone else.)

**3. Insert [sic] to Show Original Error**

DESCRIPTION
If you are quoting someone and the original quote has an error (in, say, spelling, grammar, or word choice), you can insert “sic” in brackets to indicate that the error isn’t yours, but it’s the error of the original speaker or writer.

APPLICATION
Italicize “sic” and place between a left and right bracket immediately following error.

EXAMPLE
The flustered taxi driver, in his own words, wrote, “I may have been late gitting [sic] them there, but at least they got to see the World’s Largest Twine Ball on the way.”
(In this sentence, the author notes that the taxi driver spelled “getting” incorrectly, but leaves the original spelling in the quote.)

4. Identify Added Emphasis

DESCRIPTION
Sometimes you may want to quote somebody, but add emphasis to what they said so that your reader is sure to notice it. But if the original quote didn’t include the emphasis, you need to tell your reader, in brackets, that you added the emphasis.

APPLICATION
Immediately following the sentence and quotation mark where you added emphasis, include a left bracket, state that you added emphasis, include the right bracket, then insert the period for the sentence.

EXAMPLE
As Stephanie said, “It was the broccoli that gave Stewart the stomachache, not the cheeseburger” [italics added].
(In this sentence, the author emphasizes “broccoli” even though Stephanie didn’t italicize it originally and so notes it in brackets at the end.

5. Replace Parentheses inside Parentheses

DESCRIPTION
If you include parenthetical content in a sentence and then need to add parenthetical content inside the parenthetical content, you’ll need brackets for the second set of content.

APPLICATION
Inside the parenthetical content, place the second set of parenthetical content inside a left and right bracket. Be sure to close both sets of parentheses and brackets.

EXAMPLE
Bernie was to become the next Chief Chocolate Chump (the wildly sought-after [unpaid] position at Doppelganger’s Donuts).
(In this sentence, “unpaid” is a parenthetical reference that shows up inside another parenthetical reference.

*NOTE
Placing parenthetical content inside parenthetical content can be difficult to follow and tends to be more informal. Don’t place brackets inside of parentheses very often.