parentheticals
Inserted secondary comments
Parentheticals are words, phrases, or clauses inserted into a sentence as asides or clarifications—material that could be removed without breaking the grammar.
They're typically set off by parentheses, commas, or dashes: My brother, who lives in Denver, is visiting.
In screenwriting, parentheticals are brief actor directions placed under character names: "(sarcastically)" or "(under his breath)."
Spoken comment or note
- observationAttentive watching or remark
- noteShort written record
- commentBrief stated opinion
- glossShine or annotation
critique · opinion · editorial · reflection · aside · annotation · footnote · authorial
Marks setting off text
- dashesShort fast races
- commasPunctuation for pauses
- em dashLongest horizontal punctuation
- en dashMid-length horizontal stroke
square brackets · curly braces · angle brackets · quotation marks · ellipses · nested · enclosure · demarcation
Veering off topic
- interjectionEmotional outcry word class
- tangentLine touching curve once
- afterthoughtIdea added belatedly
- deviationDeparture from expected path
excursion · diversion · departure · interpolation · insertion · sidebar · incidental · addendum
Statement making something clear
- elucidationAct of explaining clearly
- explicationDetailed interpretive analysis
- definitionStatement of meaning
- annotationAdded explanatory comment
disambiguation · elaboration · specification · qualification · contextualization · detailing · unpacking · refinement
Pressure, mental or vocal
- highlightMost notable part
- underscoreLow horizontal text mark
- accentuationStress placed on syllables
- importanceState of mattering
significance · weight · prominence · amplification · intensifier · exclamation · dramatically · notably
Renaming grammatical element
- nonrestrictiveNot defining or limiting
- subordinateOne lower in rank
- embeddedSet firmly within something
- clauseProvision in agreement
phrase · modifier · attributive · relative clause · insertion · syntactic · sentence structure · interrupter
remark
Spoken comment or note
- observationAttentive watching or remark
- noteShort written record
- commentBrief stated opinion
gloss · critique · opinion · editorial · reflection · aside · annotation · footnote · authorial · narrator
brackets
Marks setting off text
en dash · square brackets · curly braces · angle brackets · quotation marks · ellipses · nested · enclosure · demarcation · offset
digression
Veering off topic
- interjectionEmotional outcry word class
- tangentLine touching curve once
- afterthoughtIdea added belatedly
deviation · excursion · diversion · departure · interpolation · insertion · sidebar · incidental · addendum · supplementary
explanation
Statement making something clear
- elucidationAct of explaining clearly
- explicationDetailed interpretive analysis
- definitionStatement of meaning
annotation · disambiguation · elaboration · specification · qualification · contextualization · detailing · unpacking · refinement · precision
stress
Pressure, mental or vocal
- highlightMost notable part
- underscoreLow horizontal text mark
- accentuationStress placed on syllables
importance · significance · weight · prominence · amplification · intensifier · exclamation · dramatically · notably · importantly
appositive
Renaming grammatical element
- nonrestrictiveNot defining or limiting
- subordinateOne lower in rank
- embeddedSet firmly within something
clause · phrase · modifier · attributive · relative clause · insertion · syntactic · sentence structure · interrupter · nonessential
- particularsdetails, specifics, particulars, minutiae, nuances