Correct use of brackets and full stops.

[Flanker8]

That's about it really. I prefer my brackets and fullstops to be thus (). - I find it aesthetically more pleasing than (.) and have seen many examples of it used 'my' way. However, in Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynn Truss says it definitely should be (.)

 

Is there a definite answer?

 

Does this Q make sense?

[smudge]

Yes it does make sense. Like you, I always write:

(This & that). To me a . is the end of a sentence!

[Loosehead]

What you are talking about are Parenthesis the rules are here:

http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/parentheses.htm

[] are brackets

[Loosehead]

[  ] is clearer!

[smudge]

Interesting - but I still think that (  ). closes/ends the sentence properly.

[Miss Zippy]

If an entire, complete sentence is to be placed in brackets, then the full stop should appear within the brackets too. If the words in brackets are part of a sentence (whether in the middle or at the end), then the full stop appears after the closing bracket.

[Miss Zippy]

Doh � re. my second sentence, I meant the full stop appears at the end of the sentence (not after the closing brackets, though it could of course if the closing bracket is at the end of the sentence.) (Confused???)

[Quizmonster]

As Miss Zippy says, if the full stop belongs to the words within the brackets, it goes within the brackets. Clearly, if the parenthetical words are not themselves a sentence, they do not require a full stop.

[smudge]

Of course, we already knew that! :0)

[l_h_kings]

Mr Chambers taught us in 1988 in 1st year english that it is (.) and also it is "." too.

[RevShirls]

Before I answer the question to the best of my knowledge, I should point out that you are absolutely correct to refer to ( ) as brackets rather than parentheses. Parentheses refer to other symbols as well as brackets. 

Generally, US and UK rules differ on these things. Sometimes I think that Lynn Truss mixes the rules. Generally, normal grammar rules apply within a bracket. For example, if there are a few sentences contained within the brackets, normal punctuation rules should follow within the bracket. If the bracket occurs at the end of the sentence, the final full-stop should FOLLOW the bracket and not be placed within the brackets (such as this example here).

[smudge]

Thank you RevShirls, that's exactly what my English teacher taught us!

[jake-the-peg]

Lyn Truss was being interviewed on Oxford local television last night and did point out that she was not a grammerian and that the book did pretty much represent the sum total of her knowlege.

She was also laughing about being titled the "leader of the peddants' revolt" I suppose that could be the peddant's revolt if it's not a big do!

[rja211077]

or even the pedant's revolt. yours, A Pedant, esq.

[jake-the-peg]

Hooked one!!! :c)))))

[Dudley]

I always use the (). method, it looks better to me. Surely the full stop within the brackets only ends the sentence within, in which case another full stop could be required to end the main sentence. I would not argue with Lynn Truss though as she has obviously done much research.  The Webster's suggestion might only be giving us the US version.

[caffreys]

I found this example which hopefully explains things clearly:

If the brackets surround an entire sentence then the full stop at the end of the sentence stays within the brackets. (This is the procedure you should follow.) If the brackets only surround part of the sentence, the full stop goes outside. This is the procedure you should follow (under normal circumstances).