Question Mark — Definition and Examples
What is a question mark?
A question mark (also known as an interrogation point) is a punctuation mark placed at the end of a sentence or phrase that indicates a direct question. If a sentence requires an answer (or appears to require one, as in a rhetorical question), it is classified as interrogative and must end with a question mark.
Interrogative sentences differ from sentences that make a statement, demand, or exclamation, which end in either a period (full stop) or exclamation point. In the English language, an exclamation mark may sometimes be combined with a question mark to create an interrobang (?!), signifying a question with intense emotions. Interrobangs should generally be reserved for informal contexts.
While there are a variety of types of questions that require a question mark, the main four are factual, interpretive, inferential, and evaluative.
Factual: Factual questions have direct, provable answers, such as those beginning with who, what, where, why, when, and how.
Who are you?
What time is it?
Where are we going?
How will we get home?
Interpretive: Interpretive questions require the respondent to include evidence to prove the accuracy of the response. These questions often begin with "why."
Why did George Washington cross the Delaware River in the middle of the night?
Inferential: Inferential questions do not have a direct answer. Instead, respondents infer an answer using clues to support their response.
Why did the character choose to attend college close to home?
Evaluative: Evaluative questions include the respondent's personal opinion within the response.
What did you think of the movie?
How do you feel about…?
When to use a question mark
When determining when and how to use a question mark, you must determine if the sentence is a direct or indirect question, and consider the role of quotation marks and parentheses.
Direct Question: Place a question mark at the end of a direct question.
What is your name?
Where are you going?
Indirect Question: Questions embedded inside a statement do not require questions marks.
Direction Question: Do you like to go to the beach?
Indirect Question: She asked me if I like going to the beach.
Quotation Marks: If the information within the quotation marks contains the question, place the question mark inside the ending quotation marks. If the question is not contained within the quotation marks, place the question mark on the outside.
Inside Quotation Marks: The teacher asked, "What is the relevance of the title of the poem?"
Outside Quotation Marks: What did the teacher mean when he said that "it's all relative"?
Parentheses: Similar to quotation marks, if the question is within the parentheses, so too should the question mark; place the question mark outside of the parentheses if the parenthetical information does not pose the question.
Inside Parentheses: I saw Tyler (or was it Zachary?) take the last donut.
Outside Parentheses: Was it Tyler (not Zachary) who took the last donut?
Question mark examples
The following example sentences incorporate the correct use of a question mark:
Factual
When does the dance begin?
What are you wearing for the presentation?
Where are we going this summer?
Interpretive
Why did the protagonist decide to stay home?
Why don’t Stella and Rose get along?
Why does the family choose to go to the lake rather than the mountains?
Inferential
What do you think motivates the antagonist?
What would have happened if Abraham Lincoln didn't become president?
Why might it be better to use solar over wind power?
Evaluative
What are your thoughts on the ending of the novel?
Would you have made the same decision as Simon?
How would you have settled the argument?