A question mark ends a direct question, including a statement that turns into a question at the end. It does not follow an indirect question. It takes the place of the period, so the next sentence starts with a capital letter.
Everyone knows the question mark: in writing, it shows which sentence is meant as a question. Still, it is easy to use it incorrectly in some situations. Here is a closer look at this seemingly simple punctuation mark.
Forming a question
Question marks mark a written sentence as a question. In speech, a question is often shown by a rising tone at the end of the sentence. Sometimes a raised eyebrow does the trick as well.
But it is not always that simple. Some sentences look like questions but do not end with a question mark. Here are the rules.
When to use the question mark
Use a question mark:
- after a direct question
- after a statement that ends in a question, such as a tag question
For example:
Are you sure about that?
You are sure about that, aren't you?
When not to use it
Do not use a question mark:
- after an indirect question, which reports a question inside a statement
- after a polite request that is phrased as a question but meant as an instruction
For example:
I wonder if he is sure about that.
Would you please send me the report by Friday.
A rhetorical question, one that expects no answer, usually still takes a question mark: Who knows?
Where to put it
Now that it is clear when to use the question mark, the next question is where it goes. That one is easy to answer: the question mark replaces the period at the end of a sentence. So the next sentence starts with a capital letter:
Are you really sure about that? You should think it over.
Some writers break this rule on purpose. In a quick series of short questions, they continue in lowercase to show that the questions come fast, one after another:
Who was there? the neighbors? the police?
That was fairly easy. But where does the question mark go when quotation marks are involved? Compare these two examples:
"What did he say to you?"
Did she really say she was "just fine"?
In the first case, the quotation itself is the question, as in direct speech, so the question mark goes inside the quotation marks. In the second case, the quoted words are only part of a larger question, so the question mark goes outside. Do punctuation marks go inside or outside quotation marks? covers the other marks.
The inverted question mark
In Spanish, an inverted question mark (¿) opens a question, so that the reader knows from the start that a question follows. If a sentence is part statement and part question, the inverted question mark goes at the beginning of the question part:
¿Estás despierto? ("Are you awake?")
Estoy hablando con usted, ¿no? ("I'm talking to you, aren't I?")
You can type the inverted question mark without a Spanish keyboard. On Windows, hold down the Alt key and type 0191 on the numeric keypad.
The question mark's closest relative is the exclamation point. To learn how to use it, read how to use the exclamation point.