Quick question, if the original quote is "You are..." but I'm attempting to combine the two words, would the correct way to use brackets be:
a. [You're] (entire word in bracket)
b. You['re] (contraction in bracket)
Thanks so much!
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityQuick question, if the original quote is "You are..." but I'm attempting to combine the two words, would the correct way to use brackets be:
a. [You're] (entire word in bracket)
b. You['re] (contraction in bracket)
Thanks so much!
I don't see much importance and necessity in contracting that word, especially since it is a quote which means you have to respect what the source said and how the source said it.
Brackets have many usages in quotations, depending on the purpose and the situation.
For example, the following brackets were used for clarification:
The leader of the opposition said that she "will not allow what they [the government side] are pushing for."
Other usages can be found here: http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/brackets.html#clarification
But other than that, I assume the reason you want to use brackets is to solely contract the two words, which, in my opinion, is not necessary since it seems to be a direct quotation.
Strictly on the topic of bracket usage: Entire word in bracket indicates that you modified a word completely (perhaps added a new one) and that no part of this new modification was in the original writing. For example: I think [you're] silly. The original text then may be "I think silly". This means the word you're was not originally there and that you added it into the text.
By modifying it the second way, you're indicating that the original word of "You" (as it is written) was there, but you've added "'re" to it; therefore, it can be said that the second option is the correct one with one condition: since the original parts of the are word are gone, you must use an ellipsis (...) to make that work.
It would then look like this: You['re]...something something