Korean Job Discussion Forums

[raewon]

I hope that nobody will drag me over the coals for asking this question, but I need to sure about the correct usage of these.

Here are the directions in question:

Based on the above passage, write True or False in the parenthesis.

1. The number of students heading abroad is increasing. ( )
2. Students often complain about the visa process. ( )
3. ......
4. ......
5. ......


The teacher who made this question used "parenthesis", but I think it should be "parentheses". I know that "parenthesis" is the singular form and "parentheses" is the plural form, which leads me to believe I shouldn't need to post this question. However, an English teacher argues that "parenthesis" is indeed correct here.

I did find this:

Wikipedia:

[Reise-ohne-Ende]

Personally I would tend to agree with you; it should be 'parentheses'.

I think what the wikipedia article is referring to as the 'parenthesis' is the actual phrase that is enclosed inside the parentheses.

That said...I don't think anybody would notice/care if you got it wrong. But I'm very strongly of the opinion that the correct word is 'parentheses'.

Hope that helps!

[raewon]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I agree with what you stated about
Wikipedia.

Someone will care if I change it to "parentheses" and it is wrong. These things always come back to haunt me.

[jhuntingtonus]

Parenthesis is singular - ) is a parenthesis. Parentheses is plural, or can refer to the text between two of them.