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Queen of Cards

Grammar question. If you have a list in parens at the end of a sentence how do you punctuate it?

For instance, would this example sentence with multiple periods be correct?

He walked all the dogs (poodles, spaniels, etc.).

It seems to me that “etc.).” just plain looks wrong, but I’m not sure what would be right.

Top 4 Answers
anobium625

Favorite Answer

Yes, the period follows the parenthesis. If you don’t like the appearance of the sentence, you can substitute (poodles, spaniels, and like) or (such as poodles and spaniels). In any case, the use of “etc.” is weak writing unless you are Yul Brynner playing the King of Siam.
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stmichaeldet
That’s fine, even though it does look weird. The first period abbreviates et cetera, the second ends the sentence, and the parenthesis helps sort them out.
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M C
parens?

He walked all the dogs: poodles, spaniels, labs, and etc.

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Anonymous
The example sentence is just fine “card lady”.
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