End Punctuation: Question Marks

Question marks are used at the end of interrogative sentences--that is, sentences that ask a direct question. Click on one of the uses to read a description of that use and some examples to illustrate it.

• Question marks used to end a sentence.
• Question marks used with quotation marks.

Use a question mark to end a sentence that asks a direct question.

Question marks are used to mark the end of a sentence that asks a direct question. Here are two examples of question marks at the end of sentences:

What is the distance between the earth and the sun

How might one characterize Marlowe's relationship to Colonel Kurtz in Heart of Darkness

Question marks used with quotation marks.

The question mark should be placed inside or outside of quotation marks at the end of a sentence depending upon what part of the sentence forms the question. For instance, when all of the sentence is a question, the question mark goes inside the quotation marks. Yet, when a sentence that asks a question contains quoted material, especially at the end of the sentence, the question mark needs to pertain to the sentence as a whole and should go outside the quotation marks:

She asked, "Have you read the papers today"

What did Louise Mallard die of in Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour"

Question marks are never used with other marks of punctuation such as commas, exclamation points, or periods.