For example in USAToday I read this interview this morning with Sandra O'Connor. She is qouted as saying
You can (already) listen to the arguments. And every word is written down, so you can read it. I think (cameras are) going to be slow in coming.
The enclosed words do not even seem to be optional.
2006-06-08 01:29:52 · 11 answers · asked by luckybeaver 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Other - Education
Square brackets [like this] are used in quotes to insert words which the person quoted didn't actually say, but that are important to the sense of the quote.
For example, if you were interviewing some one about President Bush but just wanted to quote a part where the person said 'he...' you could swap the 'he' for [President Bush] to make the meaning clear; "[President Bush] announced that..."
In your example, Sandra O'Connor probably said 'they're going to be slow in coming' and although the interviewer knew what she was talking about as it was the subject of the question etc, this has to be made clear for the reading public, hence adding '[cameras are]'.
It is important when using square brackets that you stick very faithfully to the meaning of the quotation.
Please note that brackets in quotations are NOT used for stress - stress is implied by the use of italics or, in some cases, capital letters.
Hope that helps
2006-06-08 01:34:51 · answer #1 · answered by squimberley 4 · 7⤊ 0⤋
Words In Brackets
2017-01-09 17:48:15 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The words enclosed in brackets are words in which the reporter has added in, and the person he/she is quoting did not say, but were implied. Also, the reporter may have replaced a vague word like "it's" with something that would make more sense to the story, as it is only a select quote.
2006-06-08 01:32:17 · answer #3 · answered by Teena M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The words in brackets or parentheses are those that were not the actual words said, but could be inferred from the context. This is used to make the quotation clearer.
2006-06-08 01:35:45 · answer #4 · answered by norseman 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sometimes a pronoun is changed to make it more clear what the speaker meant, or a verb tense is changed to make the grammer fit.
For example, the second brackets, the speaker could have said "I think they're going to be slow in coming". The reporter changed "They're" to "cameras are" to make it more clear to the reader.
2006-06-08 01:33:16 · answer #5 · answered by Kutekymmee 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Becuase the words in parenthesis were not actually said by the person being quoted. They are implied and therefore included but, so as not to misquote, are put in parenthesis.
2006-06-08 01:34:09 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no longer now....i like my each and daily living house city paper. once I lived in Daytona sea coast I knew severe college instructors that gave their scholars extra effective credit for info analyzing and pointing out grammar and spelling errors in that city's paper. It grew to become right into a city extensive game. apparently performed by using all human beings however the actually info readers for the paper.
2016-09-28 04:46:56 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
brackets are used as a form of parenthesis that means to put in extra information.
2006-06-08 01:40:15 · answer #8 · answered by *Samantha* 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Technically, it means those words were left out by the speakers and added by the writer. I see what you mean with that though.
2006-06-08 01:32:54 · answer #9 · answered by mistress_seraphim_shadow 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Those words were either stressed by the speaker or they are controversial words, so they are put in brackets.
2006-06-08 01:34:36 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋