Question marks
The mark that ends a question, and the questions in disguise that do not need one.
The answer
A question mark (?) ends a sentence that asks something directly and expects an answer.
Examples
Where are my shoes?
Can we go to the beach?
The verb can comes before the subject we.
You like pizza, don’t you?
A question tag turns a statement into a question.
“Is it lunchtime yet?” asked Sam.
In direct speech, the question mark goes inside the inverted commas.
How to spot it
- Look for a question word at the start: who, what, where, when, why, how or which.
- Look for a verb in front of the subject: Are you, Can we, Did she.
- Ask whether the sentence expects an answer. If it only reports that someone asked, it is a statement.
The common mistake
Putting a question mark after a reported question.
‘She asked where the station was?’ is a statement about a question, so it ends with a full stop. The direct version is: ‘Where is the station?’ she asked.
When it is taught
- First met
- Year 1
- On the pupil word list
- Year 1, as “question mark”
Year 1 names question mark and uses it to end sentences. Year 2 learns how the grammar of a sentence shows it is a question. Year 6 adds question tags such as isn’t he?
Try a question
Which sentence needs a question mark? Tick one.
- I wonder where my hat is
- Where is my hat
- She asked where her hat was
- Tell me where my hat is
Show the answer
Answer: Where is my hat
It asks directly and expects an answer. The others are statements or a command that talk about a question.
Related terms
More grammar terms
Questions parents ask
Does ‘I wonder if’ need a question mark?
No. ‘I wonder if it will rain.’ is a statement about what you are thinking, so it ends with a full stop.
What is a question tag?
A short question added to a statement: It’s cold, isn’t it? The tag makes the whole sentence a question, so it ends with a question mark.
Can a question end with an exclamation mark?
In school writing, choose one mark. A question ends with a question mark; doubling up (?!) is best kept for comics.
Grammar turns up in 11+ English too
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