Question

Did I use parentheses correctly? Any other issues with this statement?: Cats are not the only mammals that experience hairballs. Humans can form a hairball (known as a trichobezoar) which can cause abdominal obstruction.

Answer 1

yes you used the parentheses correctly. And no, there's no other issues. However, i believe the original sentence was

Did I use parentheses correctly? Any other issues with this statement?: Cats are not the only mammals that experience hairballs. Humans can form a hairball (known as a trichobezoar) and can cause abdominal obstruction.

and i think you're supposed to correct it as

Did I use parentheses correctly? Any other issues with this statement?: Cats are not the only mammals that experience hairballs. Humans can form a hairball (known as a trichobezoar), and can cause abdominal obstruction.

^comma before and

Answer 2

Thank you! First time user and appreciate the help.

Answer 3

welcome

Answer 4

Your original sentence is correct.

lgbasllote is not correct. In his sentence, it seems as though humans can form hairballs and cause abdominal obstructions.
You want your readers to know that humans can form hairballs, but the hairball causes the obstruction.

You have it right.

Answer 5

You can also put in commas instead of parenthesis. Both ways will give you the same meaning.

Answer 6

*parentheses.

Answer 7

@Peeps if you read what i said, I said she was right

Answer 8

so does that make me wrong that she's right...but you're right about her being right?

Answer 9

@lgbasllote: You wrote:


"and i think you're supposed to correct it as

Did I use parentheses correctly? Any other issues with this statement?: Cats are not the only mammals that experience hairballs. Humans can form a hairball (known as a trichobezoar), and can cause abdominal obstruction.

^comma before and"

That is not correct.

Answer 10

@Peeps if you've been here many times you would know that this is a frequently asked question. and the instruction is usually NOT to change a word, just punctuation. So i was saying that the only way to do that is put a comma before and

Answer 11

I like to answer the question ASKED, not the question I THINK should have been asked.

Answer 12

that's why i added it

Answer 13

i answered the asked THEN put the frequently asked question

Answer 14

Also, in you "frequently asked" version, it does not say to only change punctuation. If you are going to quote another question, you should copy and paste the entire thing. From what you have pasted, nowhere does it say not to change the wording.

Answer 15

Adding a comma before "and" does NOT make the sentence correct. I don't think any teacher would want it corrected that way. I believe you are mistaken.

Answer 16

is that really the point here @Peeps ? If you think about it, if the asker and I were in the same page, then she'll know definitely what I was talking about. If she didn't she would've asked. Does that make sense?

Answer 17

Just because 2 people are on the "same page," doesn't make either of you right. You are giving her incorrect advice. Adding a comma will not make the sentence correct. If she is on the same page as you, then she is wrong, too.

Answer 18

you are obviously not in that page then

Answer 19

Sorry for the confusion/debate. My first time using site; did not know of frequently asked question page. But.... I did get the question correct (Ohio University) typed as follows:

Cats are not the only mammals that experience hairballs. Humans can form a hairball (known as a trichobezoar), which can cause abdominal obstruction.

Hope that helps clarify any issues (not that OU is the definitive source for writing skills!).