| 1. Brackets are used to enclose explanations, corrections, or comments we wish to make in material we are quoting. | From the very date the war began [June 22, 1941], there was a tremendous opposition by the people who took great pains to liberate their country. |
| 2. Brackets are used to enclose parenthetic material within parenthetic material already enclosed in parentheses. | For further reference, see works on affective variables (Krashen S. [Prentice Hall, 1981]). |
| 3. Brackets are used to set off phonetic symbols and transcriptions. | The word ‘often’ is sometimes pronounced as [ٰ o f t ə n]. |
| 4. Brackets are used to help orient the reader. | “He [John] stood up next and spoke.” |