Double question

Sometimes I want ask a question but it seems like two question marks are required because of the way it’s asked. For instance:

“Where did you buy that shirt? Was it the market or a shop?”

Written like this it appears to be two questions, but it’s not meant as two as the second part is a kind of qualifier. However, if I leave the question mark until the end, what punctuation would o use between the two?

“Where did you buy that shirt, was it the market or a shop?”

This doesn’t seem right because the first part is a complete question. I know technically the second part is redundant, and if I were talking fiction writing here I would simply omit it.

 

You can break it up:

"Where did you buy that shirt?" He sneered "the market or a shop?”

"Where did you buy that shirt?" He fingered the hem of the designer buttonup with awe. "was it the market or a shop?”



If not, then i think the choice of your example (a or b) would depend on what you are trying to convey. I'd personally use B if my character was trying to be sarcastic, and A if the character was in a shock/surprise/awe/disbelief etc.

 

Well it’s not for the purpose of fiction, but I think your answer probably stands anyway. Thanks

 

If it's dialogue, and that's how people naturally talk, I wouldn't omit it, even if it seems redundant. Although I think in natural speech the 'or' would often be absent depending on the context:

"Oh C'mon! Who's the G.O.A.T then? Magic? Lebron?"

 

@Homer Potvin - well that’s useful to know. Thanks.

@Bruce Johnson - I’m not sure I understand what you mean about the ‘or’ being absent in natural speech. How would the sentence make sense if you remove the ‘or’?

 

It wouldn't be omitted if it's a clear choice of two things and two things only, or even in some cases where there are two main possibilities.

So I don't think it would be ommited on this sentence:

"Wow, where did you get it? Amazon or eBay?"

But when there are a wide range of possibilities, people skip the 'or' all the time, as in the basketball example.

And even in speech, when the 'or' is used disjunctively (contrasting two things or two groups of things) there is sometimes a pause.

But this pause usually isn't necessary to imply in written fiction.

Compare:

"We have two choices: Victory or Death"

"We have two choices. Victory...or Death".

 

You already know what I'm going to say, but here it is anyway:

“Where did you buy that shirt—was it the market or a shop?”​

The humble em-dash is used (sometimes) when the second part of a sentence is a phrase or clause that refers back to the first part—like a comment on it for instance.

 

@Xoic - yes, I did wonder if the dash would be appropriate. Thanks.

 

Ahh! Sorry, I thought that quote was your signature or something. I completely missed its point. I’m from the UK. Basketball means as much to us as snooker or cricket means to you

 

Where did you buy that shirt; was it a market or a shop? -- No idea if that's allows...but I think it's what I would do...

 

My dad played snooker growing up in Kansas. I tried it a couple of times, but I'm bad enough at pool. Or is it billiards?

 

I don't have an answer to this specific phrase. I would actually do it like this and let a proof reader deal with it later.
But if it bothered me before that, I might consider changing the sentence. Don't know if that's an option for you, though.

"Did you buy that shirt at the market or a shop?"

 

Thanks. I can’t even remember why I was asking now. I know it wasn’t for anything I was writing.

 

This is right. You can ask that question 50 times, and you can have 50 sentences with 50 question marks. No big deal. I mean, other than the reader might get bored hearing your character repeat the same question, but that's a different issue.