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	<title>american english Archives - copyeditor.se</title>
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		<title>Brackets and parentheses</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jan 2025 09:32:04 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>Brackets and parentheses are punctuation marks used to set apart a segment of text from the surrounding text. (By the way, parentheses is the plural form of parenthesis). You are, of course, aware of the fact that British English and American English do not always agree. BE lift is elevator in AE;&#160; a BE pavement [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://copyeditor.se/brackets-and-parentheses/">Brackets and parentheses</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://copyeditor.se">copyeditor.se</a>.</p>
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<p><strong>Brackets</strong> and <strong>parentheses</strong> are punctuation marks used to set apart a segment of text from the surrounding text. (By the way, <strong>parentheses</strong> is the plural form of <strong>parenthesis</strong>).</p>



<p>You are, of course, aware of the fact that British English and American English do not always agree. BE <strong>lift</strong> is <strong>elevator</strong> in AE;&nbsp; a BE <strong>pavement</strong> is a <strong>sidewalk</strong> in AE. <strong>Holiday</strong> is <strong>vacation</strong>, <strong>handbag</strong> is <strong>purse</strong>, <strong>queue</strong> is <strong>line</strong>, <strong>tube</strong> is <strong>subway</strong>, etc.</p>



<p>When it comes to brackets and parentheses, the situation is just as confusing.</p>



<p>These marks</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-medium is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Parentes-300x200.jpg" alt="Brackets" class="wp-image-2528" width="195" height="130" srcset="https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Parentes-300x200.jpg 300w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Parentes-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Parentes-768x512.jpg 768w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Parentes-676x451.jpg 676w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Parentes.jpg 1241w" sizes="(max-width: 195px) 100vw, 195px" /></figure>



<p>are called <strong>brackets</strong> or <strong>round brackets</strong> in British English. In American English they are <strong>parentheses</strong>.</p>



<p><strong>Brackets</strong> in American English are called <strong>square brackets</strong> in British English. They look like this:</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-medium is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Hakparentes-300x200.jpg" alt="Square brackets" class="wp-image-2529" width="237" height="149"/></figure>



<p>Then we have these:</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-medium is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Krullparentes-300x200.jpg" alt="Braces
" class="wp-image-2530" width="250" height="167" srcset="https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Krullparentes-300x200.jpg 300w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Krullparentes-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Krullparentes-768x513.jpg 768w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Krullparentes-676x451.jpg 676w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Krullparentes.jpg 1198w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /></figure>



<p>They are called <strong>braces</strong> in both British and American English, but in BE they are also called <strong>curly brackets</strong>.</p>



<p>Historically, the earliest form of brackets were <strong>angle brackets</strong> or <strong>chevrons</strong>. They look like this:</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-medium is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Vinkelparentes-2-300x200.jpg" alt="Angle brackets, chevrons
" class="wp-image-2537" width="258" height="172" srcset="https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Vinkelparentes-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Vinkelparentes-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Vinkelparentes-2-676x451.jpg 676w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Vinkelparentes-2.jpg 862w" sizes="(max-width: 258px) 100vw, 258px" /></figure>



<p>In <a href="https://copyeditor.se/how-to-use-brackets-and-parentheses/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a later post</a> we take a look at how to use these brackets and parentheses.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://copyeditor.se/brackets-and-parentheses/">Brackets and parentheses</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://copyeditor.se">copyeditor.se</a>.</p>
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		<title>Practice or practise?</title>
		<link>https://copyeditor.se/practice-or-practise/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Nov 2023 16:45:42 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>Should you write practice or practise? PRACTICE In British and American English, practice is a noun with the following meanings: 1. custom, method, tradition, habit–Practice is the process of doing something as opposed to theory 2. exercise, work-out–Practice is the repeated exercise to acquire a skill 3. profession, work, career, occupation–I was looking for a [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://copyeditor.se/practice-or-practise/">Practice or practise?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://copyeditor.se">copyeditor.se</a>.</p>
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<p>Should you write <strong>practice</strong> or <strong>practise</strong>?</p>



<p><strong>PRACTICE</strong></p>



<p>In British and American English, <strong>practice</strong> is a noun with the following meanings:</p>



<p>1. custom, method, tradition, habit<br>–Practice is the process of doing something as opposed to theory</p>



<p>2. exercise, work-out<br>–Practice is the repeated exercise to acquire a skill</p>



<p>3. profession, work, career, occupation<br>–I was looking for a text-book on the practice of medicine</p>



<p>4. business, company, office, firm<br>–She works in a small legal practice</p>



<p>5. use, operation, application<br>–The nurse encouraged the practice of safe sex</p>



<p>In American English, <strong>practice</strong> is also a verb, corresponding to <strong>practise</strong> in British English.</p>



<p><strong>PRACTISE</strong></p>



<p></p>



<p>In British English, <strong>practise</strong> is a verb related to the nouns presented above.</p>



<p>Consequently, it can mean repeat, rehearse; do, work out; apply, carry out, perform; specialise in, work at.</p>



<p>As you see, American English has only the spelling <strong>practice</strong> for both the noun and the verb.</p>



<p>In British English, you can write <strong>To practise every day is good practice</strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="900" height="600" src="https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20191201-_DSC6242-Redigera.jpg" alt="A young girl is practising playing the flute in a living-room. The purpose of the image is to illustrate the difference between practice and practise." class="wp-image-2276" srcset="https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20191201-_DSC6242-Redigera.jpg 900w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20191201-_DSC6242-Redigera-300x200.jpg 300w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20191201-_DSC6242-Redigera-768x512.jpg 768w, https://copyeditor.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20191201-_DSC6242-Redigera-676x451.jpg 676w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /><figcaption>To practise every day is good practice</figcaption></figure>



<p>Read more about the endings <strong>-ice</strong> and <strong>-ise</strong> <a href="https://copyeditor.se/ice-or-ise/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://copyeditor.se/practice-or-practise/">Practice or practise?</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://copyeditor.se">copyeditor.se</a>.</p>
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		<title>With respect to and in respect of</title>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Sep 2021 11:29:42 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>The two phrases with respect to and in respect of both mean regarding, concerning. While both are used in British English, in respect of is seldom used in American English. With respect to your enquiry we can deliver the items by Friday.The two novels are very different in respect of the development of their respective [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://copyeditor.se/with-respect-to-and-in-respect-of/">With respect to and in respect of</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://copyeditor.se">copyeditor.se</a>.</p>
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<p>The two phrases <strong>with respect to</strong> and<strong> in respect of</strong> both mean <strong>regarding, concerning</strong>. While both are used in British English, <strong>in respect of</strong> is seldom used in American English.</p>



<p><strong>With respect to </strong>your enquiry we can deliver the items by Friday.<br>The two novels are very different<strong> in respect of</strong> the development of their respective characters. </p>



<p>Both these expressions are used in formal writing. When we speak, we have other ways of expressing <strong>regarding</strong>, as you can see <a href="https://copyeditor.se/regarding-regards/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</p>



<p>To a non-native English writer, the use of prepositions in English is often confusing. In the phrases we are looking at here, we cannot change the prepositions and say, for example <strong>*in respect to</strong> (for the use of the asterisk see the comment at the end of <a href="https://copyeditor.se/good-and-bad-english/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this</a> text).</p>



<p>To <strong>have respect for</strong> someone is to show consideration or respect towards a person or admire someone for their qualities, ideas, actions, etc.</p>



<p><strong>She has great respect for</strong> her grandfather’s long experience.<br><strong>I have no respect for</strong> people who keep interrupting others.</p>
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