@cindex inserting matching parentheses
@findex electric-pair-mode
Electric Pair mode, a global minor mode, provides a way to easily
-insert matching delimiters. Whenever you insert an opening delimiter,
-the matching closing delimiter is automatically inserted as well,
-leaving point between the two. Conversely, when you insert a closing
-delimiter over an existing one, no inserting takes places and that
-position is simply skipped over. These variables control additional
-features of Electric Pair mode:
+insert matching delimiters: parentheses, braces, brackets, etc.
+Whenever you insert an opening delimiter, the matching closing
+delimiter is automatically inserted as well, leaving point between the
+two. Conversely, when you insert a closing delimiter over an existing
+one, no insertion takes places, and that position is simply skipped
+over. If the region is active (@pxref{Mark}), insertion of a
+delimiter operates on the region: the characters in the region are
+enclosed in a pair of matching delimiters, leaving point after the
+delimiter you typed.
+
+These variables control additional features of Electric Pair mode:
@itemize @bullet
@item
Electric Pair mode is a global minor mode. When enabled, typing
an open parenthesis automatically inserts the corresponding
-closing parenthesis. (Likewise for brackets, etc.). To toggle
-the mode in a single buffer, use `electric-pair-local-mode'."
+closing parenthesis, and vice versa. (Likewise for brackets, etc.).
+If the region is active, the parentheses (brackets, etc.) are
+inserted around the region instead.
+
+To toggle the mode in a single buffer, use `electric-pair-local-mode'."
:global t :group 'electricity
(if electric-pair-mode
(progn