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Where does the period go when using parentheses?

I have never seen this particular issue addressed; I looked around and couldn't see anything that specifically addresses this. (Is there anything?)

In a sentence in which we have this scenario: quotation marks, period and closing parenthesis, what goes where?

Any of these are possibilities:

I love Diablo Cody (Oscar-winning writer of 'Juno.')
I love Diablo Cody (Oscar-winning writer of 'Juno).'
I love Diablo Cody (Oscar-winning writer of 'Juno').

I know I could use a comma instead of parentheses, but what if I wanted to use parentheses? There has to be a way to do it correctly.

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  • I am closing this as a dupe. Even though that other question does not mention quotation marks, it does eradicate two out of your three options.
    – RegDwigнt
    Commented Aug 18, 2012 at 0:03

4 Answers 4

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The correct one is your third variation.

  1. Parentheses belong before end-of-sentence punctuation unless the entire sentence is inside parentheses.
  2. The film title Juno is part of the parenthetical expression, so the single-quotes around it belong inside the parentheses.

So you should have:

I love Diablo Cody (Oscar-winning writer of 'Juno').

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The third. The period comes at the end of the sentence and Juno requires quotation marks before ‘J’ and after ‘o’ because it’s the name of a film. An alternative is to show Juno in italics. For guidance on punctuation in general I recommend Larry Trask's 'Guide to Punctuation'.

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There is at least one more combination: I love Diablo Cody (Oscar-winning writer of 'Juno'.)

But that's not right either. Your number three is. The answer to build outwards: Juno is in quotation marks; then the parenthetical phrase is in brackets; then the sentence finishes with a full-stop.

I love Diablo Cody (Oscar-winning writer of 'Juno').

And the task is made easier if the title is written in italics, as is customary:

I love Diablo Cody (Oscar-winning writer of Juno).

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    I can't say I find that fourth combination remotely acceptable. As you imply, a (bracketed) parenthetical phrase could be totally deleted. Which would leave you without a period to end the sentence remaining.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Aug 17, 2012 at 19:43
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    @FumbleFingers It's not acceptable. It's just omitted from the original list of three.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Aug 17, 2012 at 19:45
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    @AndrewLeach, I think you should make an edit and say that in your answer then.
    – JLG
    Commented Aug 17, 2012 at 19:49
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Your third option is correct -- though I assume you wouldn't normally use the bold.

I love Diablo Cody (Oscar-winning writer of 'Juno').

Personally, I'd put "Juno" in italics, but that wouldn't answer your question.

I love Diablo Cody (Oscar-winning writer of Juno).

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