Parentheses

Use Parentheses to include material that you want to de- emphasize or that
wouldn't normally fit into the flow of your text but you want to include nonetheless. If the
material within parentheses appears within a sentence, do not use a capital letter or
period to punctuate that material, even if the material is itself a complete sentence. (A
question mark or exclamation mark, however, might be appropriate and necessary.) If
the material within your parentheses is written as a separate sentence (not included
within another sentence), punctuate it as if it were a separate sentence.

Introduce emphasizations
Use parentheses to introduce emphasizations with a moderate level of emphasis.
I am afraid to fly (although I know riding in an airplane is safer than driving a car).
Many employees (mostly recent graduates with student loans) must ride the bus to
work.
When my husband picked me up in a new car (a shiny, purple BMW), I guessed that
he had received a large raise.

Enclose clarifications
Use parentheses to enclose clarifications.
We owe the bank thirty thousand dollars ($30,000).
Books in IRMA (Infrequently Requested Materials Area) are still available for patron
use.
The diagram (Figure 1) explains the desired workflow.

Enclose asides and additional information

Use parenthesis to enclose asides and additional information that are not part of the
grammatical structure of the main clause.
Many patrons (mostly freshmen and transfer students) will need a tour of the library.
My boss finally answered (after ignoring me for an entire week) that she could not
transfer me to another department.
Your neighbors (the people who left their broken truck in the middle of the road) are
quite annoying.
My puppy (he was completely potty-trained in less than a day) needs to go outside
at least three times a day.

Enclose numbers or letters in a list

Use parentheses to enclose numbers or letters in a list that is part of the grammatical
structure of the clause. For example:
Prepositional phrases function as (1) modifiers, (2) complements, (3) adjuncts, (4)
adverbials, and (5) subjects.
The department is looking for a new manager who (1) can work any shift, (2) will
work multiples shifts per day, and (3) is willing to work overtime.