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  1. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    Question mark position?

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by OurJud, Oct 17, 2020.

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    Last edited: Oct 17, 2020
  2. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Is there a question, or did Scotty beam you up? :)
     
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  3. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    There was, but it was a stupid one. I asked it at 3:30 in the morning, too tired, and my wording was like that of an imbecile.

    In a nutshell I wanted to know where the question mark goes when the question is within a sentence that doesn't end on a question. Such as "What time is it? I forgot to put my watch on." But this is a bad example because I believe the way I have it formatted here is correct. The reason I deleted was because I realised the question in the original example was rhetorical and can have the question mark omitted entirely.

    For example, someone admitting to being a hypocrite might say: "Who am I to talk, I do the same thing all the time."

    "Who am I to talk? I do the same thing all the time." forces too much of a pause. And yet "Who am I to talk, I do the same thing all the time?" doesn't make sense either because the sentence doesn't end on a question. But like I say all the examples I could think of were largely rhetorical and don't require a question mark anyway.
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2020
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  4. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    My only addition is that I would not use a comma in your rhetorical example. I would use a semicolon. They are two complete sentences and they very nicely satisfy the more subtle requirement of the semicolon that the two sentences be tightly entwined in sentiment, the core theme often (though not a rule) answering to cause and effect.
     
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