Question Mark | When to Use & Examples
A question mark (?) is used at the end of an interrogative sentence. It can also be used at the end of other sentences or phrases to indicate that they should be read with a questioning (i.e., rising) intonation.
What does “presumptuous” mean?
The minister asked, “Does anyone have any objections?”
Coffee, anyone?
What is a question mark?
As its name implies, a question mark is used to indicate a question. It comes at the end of an interrogative sentence. Sentences that begin with question words (e.g., “who,” “can,” “is,” “could,” “do”) must end in a question mark.
In informal writing, question marks are sometimes used in other places to indicate that the writer is uncertain about something or that the reader should read the sentence with a questioning tone.
Additionally, in everyday writing, people sometimes use multiple question marks or a question mark and exclamation mark together to indicate surprise. This should be avoided in formal or academic writing, though.
This presentation raises an important question: What can we do to combat climate change?
Why is no one questioning the claims our competitors are making?
Madeleine was born in Chicago, I think? [informal use only]
Indirect questions
Indirect questions are questions that are contained in a statement (e.g., “I wonder when the bus will get here”). Indirect questions are declarative sentences, so they do not use a question mark.
- The teacher asked if anyone had finished the test?
- The teacher asked if anyone had finished the test.
- My mom always asks me when I’m going to get married?
- My mom always asks me when I’m going to get married.
Question marks and quotation marks
A common concern is whether question marks go inside or outside of quotation marks. It depends on the context. If the quoted material is a question, the question mark goes inside the quotation marks. Otherwise, it goes outside.
| Question mark part of quotation | Question mark not part of quotation |
|---|---|
| The patient asked, “How many months do I have to live?” | Do we really think it’s reasonable for students to know the word “loquacious”? |
| Next week, we will be studying Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet “How Do I Love Thee?” |
Is it a cliché to say “he’s in a better place”? |
Frequently asked questions about question marks
- What are periods, commas, and question marks called?
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Periods, commas, and question marks are all types of punctuation.
This category also includes exclamation marks and less common punctuation like em dashes, en dashes, and hyphens. Sometimes, people refer to all of these as punctuation marks.
- How do you say question mark in Spanish?
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The word for question mark in Spanish is “signo de interrogación.” To refer to the upside-down (inverted) question mark (¿) that comes at the beginning of Spanish questions, you would say “signo de interrogación invertido.”
QuillBot’s free multilingual Grammar Checker can make sure you’re spelling all Spanish words correctly.
- How do I make a question mark in Spanish?
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Spanish uses question marks in pairs: an upside-down (or inverted) question mark (¿) at the beginning of the sentence and a regular question mark at the end. For example: “¿De dónde eres?” [Where are you from?]
To type an inverted question mark, you can use the following keyboard shortcuts:
How to type an upside-down question mark Microsoft Word Mac ctrl + alt + shift + ? shift + option + ? When using a program other than Word on a PC, there is no one shortcut that works consistently. It may be best to pull up the special character menu by pressing the Windows key + the period key.
QuillBot’s multilingual Grammar Checker can help you use punctuation correctly in any language.
- Does a question mark go inside quotes?
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A question mark goes inside quotation marks if the quoted material itself is a question. Otherwise, the question mark goes outside of the quotation marks.
Question marks with quotation marks examples The prosecutor asked, “When did you first notice a problem with the account?”Who said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”?
QuillBot’s Grammar Checker can help ensure your writing is free of punctuation mistakes.
