The next in my recent punctuation and grammar theme comes this short guide to the question mark. A question mark is a commonly used punctuation mark, used to indicate that a sentence is a question. Below is a simple guide for using the question mark.

Direct questions

A question mark is used at the end of a sentence that poses a direct question. Sentences that form an indirect question are punctuated with a full stop. Direct question: When will your brother and sister be home from school today? Indirect question: I wonder what time your brother and sister will be home from school today. Direct question: The question is, will everybody be happy with cheese sandwiches at the picnic? Indirect question: The question was whether everybody will be happy with cheese sandwiches at the picnic.

Sentences that contain a direct question

If a direct question occurs within a larger sentence, it still requires a question mark. In the examples below, the question mark is used at the end of the direct question and replaces the comma that would syntactically be would used if the sentence did not contain a direct question. Would the train arrive at the station on time? He speculated. The crucial question, would the two sides be able to negotiate a deal? was left unanswered. “Can we please have fish and chips for dinner tonight?” her daughter asked politely.

A question mark in the title of a piece of work

The use of a question mark differs to the examples above when the question mark is part of a title of a piece of work, such as a film or book. A comma is required when this is the case. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, staring George Clooney, is one of my favourite films. The film starring Ice Cube, Are We There Yet?, is not very funny. If the question mark in the title is positioned at the end of the sentence, and would normally require an additional question mark or full stop, the additional punctuation mark is not required and is omitted from the sentence. Have you seen the film starring George Clooney, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? Due to the disappointing reviews, I have not seen the comedy film Are We There Yet?

Sentences that contain requests

If a sentence contains a request that is constructed as a question it should be punctuated with a full stop, and not with a question mark. Can you please include all of the paperwork and send the assignment to the office that is stated on the cover page.

Using a question mark to indicate uncertainty

A question mark can be included to express a writer’s uncertainty with a statement or direction within a sentence, but is accompanied with brackets or parenthesis. It is a matter of style as to whether to include a space after the uncertain word or statement and the first bracket or parenthesis. The recipe recommends using 100(?) grams of sugar. According to the available records, Mary was born in 1912 [1911?].