shattered (vanished)

[mrmvp]

Hello.


Grammatically, which punctuation mark is used to give a synonym of a word? Is it brackets or quotation marks? For example, After Liverpool lost against Paris Saint-Germain, their dreams to be crowned the Champions League winner were shattered (vanished)

 

[tedmc]

Quotation marks after the first word are not appropriate. Brackets are okay but I'd stick to the more appropriate word "shattered". Brackets are normally used to provide clarification or additional information to a word or phrase, rather than give its synonym.

 

[teechar]

their dreams to be crowned the Champions League winners were

See above.

shattered (vanished)

Why would you want to use a synonym here?

 

[jutfrank]

There is no customary punctuation mark for that. Who would do that, and why?

 

[Rover_KE]

They aren't even close to being synonyms, anyway.

Say either '... their dreams ... were shattered', or '... their dreams ... vanished'.

The first version is far better for me.

 

[mrmvp]

Why would you want to use a synonym here?

Thank you .

Sometimes, I clarify words by adding a synonym for example, awful (bad). This might serve as a way to teach vocabulary, but my main purpose is to convey my message clearly. Some words, such as quote (as a verb), I might add (price) to give a synonym. Also, I believe both (i.e.) and (that is) are not followed by a word alone but rather by a phrase or explanation. Am I right?

Thank you all for your contributions.

 

[mrmvp]

They aren't even close to being synonyms, anyway.

Thank you.

They might not be perfect synonyms, but I suppose they are partial synonyms

 

[5jj]

They might not be perfect synonyms, but I suppose they are partial synonyms

They are not.

 

[teechar]

Sometimes, I clarify words by adding a synonym

You only need to add something if there is real scope for ambiguity.

for example, awful (bad).

Isn't "awful" usually bad?!

This might serve as a way to teach vocabulary,

Teach who?

but my main purpose is to convey my message clearly.

See above.

Some words, such as quote (as a verb), I might add (price) to give a synonym.

I don't know what you mean by that.

Also, I believe both (i.e.) and (that is) are not followed by a single word alone but rather by a phrase or explanation.

Not necessarily. They can be followed by a single word.

 

[emsr2d2]

Also, I believe both "i.e." and "that is" are not followed by a single word, alone but rather by a phrase or explanation.

Your use of brackets was wrong above. As you can see, both "i.e" and "that is" should have been in quotation marks. Alternatively, you could have put them in italics. Brackets should be used around additional information but the surrounding sentences must still make sense even if you removed the word in brackets and the brackets! That clearly wouldn't be the case if you removed the bracketed parts of your original.

 

[mrmvp]

Isn't "awful" usually bad?!

Teach who?

Thank you all. @emsr2d2 and @teechar

Yes, they are. I remember I was reading a book to acquire vocabulary and in that book the writer used brackets to give synonyms. For example, the food was tasty (delicious) and yes both words mean or share similar meaning. If I knew the name of the book I would write it ,sorry.

I don't know what you mean by that.

I will put in context.

The contractor quoted (gave price) €35,000 to build the basement.

As can be seen above I used "give price" to clarify the word "quoted".

Not necessarily. They can be followed by a single word.

Should I replace brackets with "i.e" and "that is" for a single word or phrase?

 

[5jj]

The contractor quoted (gave price) €35,000 to build the basement.

The problem with that is that 'gave price' is neither natural nor correct English.