Question Mark (?)

A question mark makes clear to the reader that an inquiry is being made.

Introduction

A question mark is a type of terminal point that denotes a question.

As with the full stop, there are a number of things to be aware of when including question marks in our writing.

Direct Questions and Indirect Questions

If a question is being asked directly, a question mark is required at the end of the sentence. If a question is being asked indirectly, a full stop is sufficient.

Questions Within Larger Sentences

If a sentence includes (but does not end with) a question, a question mark is still necessary. This question mark replaces any comma that would usually be required to separate clauses.

Text titles

If a sentence ends with a text title that includes a question mark, an additional terminal point is not required.

Implied commands

If a question is phrased within a request that, in reality, is an implied command, no question mark is needed.

A Series of Short Questions

When asking a short series of questions, a question mark should be used for each question. (A capital letter is not required after each question mark).

Expressing Doubt

If we would like to express uncertainty about something we are reporting within a sentence, we can include a question mark within brackets (round or square) to indicate this.

If we believe we have access to more correct information than the original source, we can also include this information within the brackets.

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Exclamation Mark