How To Use Question Marks: 5 Simple Rules

Question marks might seem fairly straightforward: they come after a question. Easy enough! 😅 However, a few complications might pop up when it comes to punctuating indirect questions, deciding how question marks interact with other punctuation marks, and—heaven forbid—dealing with questions in DISGUISE.

Never fear! There aren’t too many rules to master when it comes to the question mark (they’re not nearly as complicated as commas). Here are five simple rules that will help you get question marks right every time.

Rule #1: Use Question Marks for Direct Questions (Quoted and Unquoted)

Question marks always mark the end of a direct question, whether the question is quoted or unquoted. Quoted questions look like this:

“Are you coming to dinner later?” my dad asked.

Unquoted questions look like this:

Is she avoiding him on purpose? he wondered.

In both situations, you need a question mark to come immediately after the question. If the sentence continues beyond the question, you should not capitalize the word that comes after the question mark.

INCORRECT: “Are you coming to dinner later?” My dad asked.

CORRECT: “Are you coming to dinner later?” my dad asked.

INCORRECT: Is she avoiding him on purpose? He wondered.

CORRECT: Is she avoiding him on purpose? he wondered.

However, if the end of the question is also the end of the sentence, you begin the next sentence with a capital letter (just like you normally would).

CORRECT: “Are you coming to dinner later?” My dad smiled as he posed the question.

CORRECT: Is she avoiding him on purpose? James couldn’t help but assume she was, which bothered him.

Rule #2: Do NOT Use Question Marks With Indirect Questions

Question marks come at the end of direct questions, but they should not be used with INDIRECT questions. An indirect question looks like this:

James wondered whether Lucy was avoiding him on purpose.

One way to tell whether a question is direct or indirect is to say it out loud: if your voice goes up in pitch at the end of the question, it’s probably direct. If not, it’s probably indirect.

CORRECT: Whether their job would be the next casualty of the layoffs was the question on each of my coworkers’ minds.

CORRECT: My friend asked if we could meet uptown for dinner.

Let’s try a few examples:

“Do you have this coat in green,” I asked the store clerk.

This is a direct question, so it needs a question mark.

“Do you have this coat in green?” I asked the store clerk.

I asked the store clerk if they had the wool coat in green?

This is an indirect question, so it should not have a question mark.

I asked the store clerk if they had the wool coat in green.

Rule #3: Single-Word Questions Don’t Need Question Marks

According to The Chicago Manual of Style, “When a question within a sentence consists of a single word, such as who, when, how, or why, a question mark may be omitted, and the word is sometimes italicized.”

Here are a few examples:

CORRECT: When she heard that her roommate had gone, she couldn’t help but wonder where.

CORRECT: The real question is not how but why.

INCORRECT: The detective believed one of them to be the culprit; Leroy was dying to ask who? but didn’t want to seem suspicious.

CORRECT: The detective believed one of them to be the culprit; Leroy was dying to ask who but didn’t want to seem suspicious.

If the single-word question is quoted, however, you should still include a question mark:

INCORRECT: “Eva’s gone,” said Penny. “Where,” I asked.

CORRECT: “Eva’s gone,” said Penny. “Where?” I asked.

Rule #4: Disguised Questions Don’t Need Question Marks

Some questions are actually not questions at all—they’re demands in DISGUISE.

It’s common in polite conversation to rephrase demands or requests as questions so that we don’t come off as rude or brash. Here’s an example:

DEMAND: Respond to this invitation by July 8th.

This might sound too blunt, so we can rephrase it as a question:

REPHRASED AS QUESTION: Would you please respond to this invitation by July 8th.

This isn’t really a question—you couldn’t appropriately respond by saying, “Actually, no, I will respond to your invitation in August.” There’s only one correct response, so we know that’s a demand in disguise.

When we disguise requests as questions, they do NOT require a question mark.

LESS CORRECT: Would you please respond to this invitation by July 8th?

MORE CORRECT: Would you please respond to this invitation by July 8th.

I labeled these as “less correct” and “more correct” because it’s not really wrong to use a question mark, but it’s unnecessary. We’re not actually asking for a response from the audience here: instead, we’re issuing a polite request.

Will the audience please rise.

Would you please get the report finished by Friday.

When there is only one “acceptable” answer to the question/request (e.g., your boss is asking you to complete a report and doesn’t expect you to answer with “No, I won’t finish that by the deadline you’ve proposed”), don’t use a question mark. If there are truly multiple “correct” answers, use a question mark.

Situation: You’re at the doctor’s office for an appointment and they need to know your age.

CORRECT: Would you please tell me your age.

Situation: You’re out with friends and someone is curious about your age.

CORRECT: Would you mind telling me your age?

At the doctor’s office, it would be strange for you to withhold information that might be important for the medical staff to know. When you’re just out with friends, however, it wouldn’t be unusual at all to tactfully decline sharing that information. The first situation is a demand in disguise, and the second is a true question.

Situation: You’ve procrastinated finishing an important report, and your boss is not happy.

CORRECT: Would you please have the report on my desk by no later than 3:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Situation: Your boss is asking you to work on an extra project that is not urgent, and you’re deciding together on an appropriate deadline.

CORRECT: Do you think you could finish that report by Thursday?

If your boss is truly leaving the deadline open for debate, they should include a question mark. However, if they have already decided on a set deadline, they should not include a question mark, even if they have phrased the demand as a question.

Rule #5: Question Marks Go Inside Quotation Marks and Parentheses ONLY When They’re Part of the Quoted or Parenthetical Material

A question mark needs to stick close to the question it’s punctuating. Not even quotation marks or parentheses should get in the way.

INCORRECT: My friend asked, “Are you sure you want the blue dress”?

CORRECT: My friend asked, “Are you sure you want the blue dress?”

INCORRECT: It was flurrying outside (can you believe we got snow in April)? when I went to the post office.

CORRECT: It was flurrying outside (can you believe we got snow in April?) when I went to the post office.

If a quoted question comes at the end of the sentence, you DON’T need additional punctuation after it.

INCORRECT: The teacher asked, “Has everyone completed their work?”.

CORRECT: The teacher asked, “Has everyone completed their work?”

If a parenthetical question comes at the end of the sentence, you DO need additional punctuation after it.

INCORRECT (missing end punctuation): The girl in the green jumpsuit winked at me from across the room (had we met before?)

CORRECT: The girl in the green jumpsuit winked at me from across the room (had we met before?).

If the question mark does NOT apply to only the quoted or parenthetical material, you should keep it OUTSIDE of the quotation marks or parentheses.

INCORRECT: Why is there a sign in the window declaring it’s “for sale?”

CORRECT: Why is there a sign in the window declaring it’s “for sale”?

In this situation, the whole sentence is the question, not just the words in quotes.

INCORRECT: Do you live in the third house on the street (the blue one?)

CORRECT: Do you live in the third house on the street (the blue one)?

This is the same situation: The whole sentence is a question, not just the words in the parentheses.

What questions do you have about question marks? Let me know in the comments!

Check out the 2 most CONTROVERSIAL punctuation practices here!

Sources:

• The Chicago Manual of Style. 17th ed. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2017.
• Einsohn, Amy. The Copyeditor’s Handbook. 3rd ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: Univ of California Pr, 2011.