Grammar girl here. I'm Minion Fogarty and this week I have a quick and dirty tip

about phrases in parentheses and how they affect the grammar of a sentence. A

meaty middle about global English words such as month-story and

updation and a tidbit about a regionalism right here in the U.S. standing

online. And now here's your quick and dirty tip about parentheses. A lawyer

friend recently asked me how words inside parentheses affect which verb you use.

And it's a nice extension of the podcast last week about the basics of subject

verb agreement. Here's a simplified form of the sentence that had him confused.

The Sherman Act, parentheses and the Federal Trade Commission Act, closed

parentheses, do not apply to state agencies. But should it be do not apply as

though the subject is plural, the Sherman Act and the Federal Trade Commission

Act, or does not apply as though the subject is singular, just the Sherman Act.

If the sentence didn't have parentheses, it would have a compound

subject, plural, and you'd write the Sherman Act and the Federal Trade Commission

Act do not apply. But those parentheses change things. The parentheses tell us

that part of the sentence is extra information. It can be ignored. Therefore, we

ignore it when we're choosing our verb. The sentence has a singular subject and

the right choice is does. The Sherman Act, open parentheses and the Federal

Trade Commission Act, closed parentheses, does not apply. But as you've probably

gathered, putting that second part in parentheses makes the sentence awkward.

No matter which verb you use, readers are going to wonder whether it's wrong.

So it's usually better to ask yourself if those parentheses are really necessary

...