{"id":4292,"date":"2013-06-29T03:38:26","date_gmt":"2013-06-29T03:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/?page_id=4292"},"modified":"2026-03-25T12:34:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:34:50","slug":"question-marks","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/question-marks\/","title":{"rendered":"When to Use a Question Mark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t<div id=\"mmDeferVideoEncompass_aih3vBycfSc\" style=\"position: relative;\">\n\t\t\t<picture>\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"> \n\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" id=\"videoThumbnailImage_aih3vBycfSc\" data-source-videoID=\"aih3vBycfSc\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" alt=\"When to Use a Question Mark Video\" height=\"464\" width=\"825\" class=\"size-full\" data-matomo-title = \"When to Use a Question Mark\">\n\t\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<style>img#videoThumbnailImage_aih3vBycfSc:hover {cursor:pointer;} img#videoThumbnailImage_aih3vBycfSc {background-size:contain;background-image:url(\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/updated-when-to-use-a-question-mark-64bfd830ea776.webp\");}<\/style>\n\t\t\t<script defer>\n\t\t\t  jQuery(\"img#videoThumbnailImage_aih3vBycfSc\").click(function() {\n\t\t\t\tlet videoId = jQuery(this).attr(\"data-source-videoID\");\n\t\t\t\tlet helpTag = '<div id=\"mmDeferVideoYTMessage_aih3vBycfSc\" style=\"display: none;position: absolute;top: -24px;width: 100%;text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;font-size: small;border-top: 1px solid #fc0;\">Having trouble? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v='+videoId+'\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to watch on YouTube.<\/a><\/span><\/div>';\n\t\t\t\tlet tag = document.createElement(\"iframe\");\n\t\t\t\ttag.id = \"yt\" + videoId;\n\t\t\t\ttag.src = \"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/\" + videoId + \"?autoplay=1&controls=1&wmode=opaque&rel=0&egm=0&iv_load_policy=3&hd=0&enablejsapi=1\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.frameborder = 0;\n\t\t\t\ttag.allow = \"autoplay; fullscreen\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.width = this.width;\n\t\t\t\ttag.height = this.height;\n\t\t\t\ttag.setAttribute(\"data-matomo-title\",\"When to Use a Question Mark\");\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_aih3vBycfSc\").html(tag);\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_aih3vBycfSc\").prepend(helpTag);\n\t\t\t\tsetTimeout(function(){jQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoYTMessage_aih3vBycfSc\").css(\"display\", \"block\");}, 2000);\n\t\t\t  });\n\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n<p><script>\nfunction FCJ_Function() {\n  var x = document.getElementById(\"FCJ\");\n  if (x.style.display === \"none\") {\n    x.style.display = \"block\";\n  } else {\n    x.style.display = \"none\";\n  }\n}\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"moc-toc hide-on-desktop hide-on-tablet\">\n<div><button onclick=\"FCJ_Function()\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/toc2.svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"show or hide table of contents\"><\/button><\/p>\n<p>On this page<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<nav id=\"FCJ\" style=\"display:none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#General_Questions\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">General Questions<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Quotes\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Quotes<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Statements\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Statements<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Interrobang\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Interrobang<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion\"><input id=\"transcript\" type=\"checkbox\" class=\"spoiler_button\" \/><label for=\"transcript\">Transcript<\/label>\n<div class=\"spoiler\" id=\"transcript-spoiler\">\n<p>Why watch a video on question marks, you ask? That\u2019s a good question!<\/p>\n<p>Question marks are part of English <a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/consistency-in-punctuation\/\">punctuation<\/a>, which also includes exclamation marks, periods, <a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/when-to-use-a-comma\/\">commas<\/a>, etc. Punctuation is designed to make communication more clear, so I\u2019d like, totally, recommend that you use it.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"General_Questions\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>General Questions<\/h2>\n<p>\nQuestion marks indicate that someone is asking a question. You use it at the end of a sentence where you would otherwise put a period.<\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">Do we need milk at the store?<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0em;\">Is this American Oak?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Quotes\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Quotes<\/h2>\n<p>\nWhen quoting someone, put the question mark at the end of the quote, within the quotation marks.<\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">\u201cWas it you that bought me flowers?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0em;\">The general growled to his lieutenant, \u201cwhy aren\u2019t they here yet?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Statements\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Statements<\/h2>\n<p>\nHowever, don\u2019t use a question mark if the question is contained within a statement:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">John wanted to know if you had bought the car yet.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0em;\">Dad told me to ask you if you\u2019d taken the trash out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nIn formal writing, and even in all but very casual writing, you should only use one instance of a punctuation element. So don\u2019t go stacking up question marks, even if you ARE incredibly curious.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s basically it for question marks. Unlike much of English grammar, they\u2019re fairly simple.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Interrobang\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Interrobang<\/h2>\n<p>\nBut there\u2019s one more fun thing I want to tell you about before we go: the interrobang. Yes, it\u2019s a real thing; I\u2019m not making it up. I know I just told you that it normally wouldn\u2019t be acceptable to use both an exclamation mark and a question mark at the end of a sentence.<\/p>\n<p>But there are plenty of times when that just seems to make the most sense! In 1962, the head of an advertising agency, Martin Spekter, came up with the interrobang. It combines an exclamation and a question into a single mark. It\u2019s not very popular, but you should go ahead and use it! English doesn\u2019t always have to be full of rules.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s all for now\u2014thanks for watching and happy writing!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"home-buttons\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/writing\/\">Return to Writing Videos<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Return to Writing Videos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":186440,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-4292","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"page_category-video-pages-for-study-course-sidebar-ad","7":"page_category-writing-videos","8":"page_type-video","9":"subject_matter-english"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4292"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279346,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4292\/revisions\/279346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}