# Proper style/use of parenthesis

I'm using 'mathpazo' for text and math. One thing I have noticed is that the style of the parentheses in text and math mode are not alike. What would you use?

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Text mode: $($text$)$ or (text)

Math mode: $(x=30)$ or ($x=30$)
\end{document}


• Ok, but the same "problem" is still there if I remove 'mathabx'. Mar 7 '16 at 18:10
• Perhaps you should give a try at the newpx package, based on the URW Palladio clone of Palatino. Mar 7 '16 at 18:20

I don't think it's really good to load mathabx along with mathpazo; however, the problem of parentheses appears anyway, due to the fact that the parentheses in the upright math symbol font are apparently taken from Computer Modern.

You can cure it by changing the parentheses in math mode:

\documentclass{article}

\DeclareMathDelimiter{(}{\mathopen} {operators}{(}{largesymbols}{"00}
\DeclareMathDelimiter{)}{\mathclose}{operators}{)}{largesymbols}{"01}

\begin{document}
Text mode: $($text$)$ or (text)

Math mode: $(x=30)$ or ($x=30$)

$(\big(\Big(\bigg(\Bigg($
\end{document}


Another solution is not using mathpazo, but NewPX, which I recommend.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{newpxtext,newpxmath}

\begin{document}
Text mode: $($text$)$ or (text)

Math mode: $(x=30)$ or ($x=30$)

$(\big(\Big(\bigg(\Bigg($
\end{document}


• I don't have 'newpxtext' and 'newpxmath' installed on my PC. Tried using the guide here: ctan.org/tex-archive/fonts/newpx. But it also require 'newtx­math', 'px­fonts', and 'TEXGyrePag­ella', and I can't get it to work! Mar 7 '16 at 18:31
• @TobiasDK You apparently have a rather old TeX distribution. Mar 7 '16 at 18:33
• MikTex 2.9, updated yesterday. Maybe I have damaged the FNDB and Formats system, when trying to install all the packages?!? Mar 7 '16 at 18:36
• @TobiasDK NewPX is not at all that new. It's regularly updated, but it was already in TeX Live 2012. And, sorry, I know almost nothing about MiKTeX, because none of my machines can run it. Mar 7 '16 at 18:38
• Got it to work now :-) Found the missing packages in "Package Manager". Mar 7 '16 at 18:58

One thing I have noticed is that the style of the parenthes[e]s in text and math mode are not alike. What would you use?

Regardless of the font families you may be employing, the prescriptive answer regarding the use of parentheses is straightforward:

• Use math-mode parentheses if, syntactically speaking, the material -- including the parentheses -- is math-y.

• Use text-mode parentheses if the parentheses themselves, syntactically speaking, are part of the text, even if some or all of the material they enclose is math-y.

Of course, if the text and math fonts are well-matched, one may not notice any difference in appearance of basic-size parentheses to begin with.

• @TobiasDK - Keep in mind that the prescriptive rule laid out above applies to other items -- e.g., commas -- as well: If the comma is part of the math expression, set it in math mode; otherwise, set it in text mode. Thus, write Let $a_i$, $i=1,\dots,n$, be a non-negative number`: two commas in text mode, and two commas in math mode.
– Mico
Mar 7 '16 at 23:41