When to Use Question Marks: A Complete Guide

A question mark is an end punctuation mark that indicates a sentence is a question. A sentence that asks a question is called an interrogative sentence. 

There are several instances when a question mark may be used in writing. In specific sentence constructions, other punctuation may change or be used differently in conjunction with a question mark. 

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Use Question Marks to Indicate a Question

The most common and obvious use of a question mark is to indicate a question in an interrogative sentence. 

Often, but not always, questions begin with interrogative words, such as who, what, when, where, why, and how. 

Examples: 

• Where do you live?
• What time is the wedding?
• Who?
• Why did you do that?

A question mark can make all the difference in a sentence’s meaning or intent. Knowing whether something is a statement or a question is important to the reader. 

Question Marks Can Express Doubt

A question mark can also be used to express doubt. They turn regular statements into expressions of disbelief.

Examples: 

• She scored an A on the exam?
• You didn’t have your phone?
• It happened in 2020?
• Shakespeare wrote that?

A question mark expresses that although a sentence may be structured like a statement, it’s a question, not a fact. 

When the Question Mark Goes Inside Quotation Marks

A question mark is needed when a quote includes a question. But where does it go? It depends on whether the quote is a statement or a question.

A quoted question at the start of a statement

When your quote is a statement, such as in dialogue, the question and the question mark go inside the quotation marks. 

Whether the question comes at the beginning or end of the sentence, the question mark goes inside the quotation marks.

Examples: 

• “Who told you where I was?” he asked.
• “What time is the meeting?” my boss wondered.
• “Why should I know?” she shrugged.

Note that when the question comes first, there is no comma after it. 

In each of these examples, a question is being asked, but the actual sentence is a statement, so the sentence's end punctuation is a period. 

A quoted question at the end of a statement

If a statement contains a quote that is a question at the end of the sentence, two things are different than the format above:

• The question mark serves as the end punctuation for the sentence, even though the statement itself isn’t a question.
• There is a comma between the subject + verb and the quote.

Examples: 

• The housesitter asked, “What time does your flight land?”
• They inquired, “Just where do you think you’re going?”
• Her friend asked, “Are you alright?”

In each of these examples, the sentence is still a statement, with the main actions being: The housesitter asked, They inquired, and Her friend asked. 

The question mark here doesn’t make the statement a question, and grammar rules dictate that we don’t add a period after the question mark and end quote. 

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When the quote and the sentence are both questions

Use only one question mark if you have a quoted question within an interrogative sentence. 

Examples: 

• Why did she ask, “Exactly where are we going?”
• Did you see the movie “Are We There Yet?”

When the Question Mark Goes Outside the Quotation Marks

It’s rare, but if quotation marks are being used just to set off a word or phrase, sometimes the question mark goes outside them.

Examples:

• Why don’t you like the movie “Jurassic World”?
  • The question mark is not part of the movie title.
• Do you know why she “thanked us in advance”?
  • This isn’t a direct quote; it’s paraphrasing.

Omitting a Question Mark for Rhetorical Questions

When a question sounds like a question but is intended as a statement, you might leave the question mark off as a stylistic choice, such as when expressing sarcasm or dry humor.

Examples:

• You don’t say.
• Guess what I heard. 
• How about that. 

Always Avoid Doubling Question Marks

No matter how much emphasis you’d like to draw to a question, it’s generally not recommended to use more than one in professional writing. All end punctuation follows this rule. 

However, as with may aspects of grammar, there are usually creative ways to get the same effect.

Examples:

• Incorrect: Why would they say that???
• Correct: That’s crazy. Why would they say that? 
• Correct: Wow! That is rich. Why would they say that? 

A Question Mark Can Say a Lot

Use question marks intentionally! As the examples above illustrate, question marks can add a lot to a sentence and are an important signpost to a reader. 

In addition to indicating an interrogative sentence, they sometimes separate fact from doubt, point out a question within a statement, or replace a period. Then, their purposeful omission can also express a declaration or dry humor.

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