Hello everybody, welcome to my channel Sparkle English where I teach you ways to improve your
level of English. This is the next video in my English writing essential series,
where I teach you all about different punctuation that you need to be able to use in English,
including exclamation marks, periods, colon, semi colons. In today's video,
I will teach you all about how to use question marks. So let's get started. In this lesson,
you will learn how to use question marks. And this right here is a question mark.
So let's talk about different types of sentences. Periods go at the end of declarative sentences.
For example, I live in Spain, period. exclamation points or exclamation marks go at the end of
exclamatory sentences. For example, Spain is beautiful! This here is an exclamation mark.
And question marks go at the end of interrogative sentences or questions.
For example, where do you live? Question mark. So rule number one is we use a question mark
after a direct question. We use question marks to end direct questions. Here are some examples.
What is your name? Who is that man? Where should we go? How are you?
Do you like sushi? Many different direct questions or most direct questions begin with these words,
question word questions. Who, what? Where? When? Why? Which, whose? And how? If you see a question,
begin with one of these words, we will usually have to end the sentence with a question mark.
Rule number two, use a question mark at the end of a sentence. A question mark replaces a period
at the end of the sentence. For example, what is your name? This is correct.
This would be incorrect. What is your name? Question mark, and then a period we do not need
this period. We can only use a question mark, because this is a question in the next example,
Do you live here? This would be correct. Do you live here with a question mark? And
a period would not be correct. We have to have a question mark only a question mark.
Rule number three. The question mark replaces a comma if a quoted question ends in mid sentence.
So if a quoted question ends in the middle of a sentence, the question mark replaces a comma. So
for example, can you help me Ted asked? Here, we put a question mark, because this is a question.
Can you help me? So this would be correct. This would be incorrect. Can you help me? Question
mark, comma, Ted asked, this is incorrect. We do not need this comma here and we cannot use it.
This can be confusing sometimes. Because if we had a sentence like this, I'm tired. This
is a declarative sentence. And it would end with a period. But because it's a quotation,
we would replace the period with a comma. And this is okay for declarative sentences. But because
this is a question, we have to replace the period or the comma with a question mark,
because it's a question. Okay. Another example, is that Joe's cat? I wondered, this
is correct. Because it's a question. This would be incorrect. Is that Joe's cat? Question mark,
comma. This is incorrect. We only need the question mark. Okay. So if we had another example,
are you tired? Joe asked. Here, inside the quotation, we would put a question mark.
Okay, so when it's a declarative sentence, I'm tired. We replace the period with a
comma in the middle of a quotation, but if it is a question, then we replace the period or the comma
with a question mark inside the quotations. Okay. Rule 4: how to use question marks with quotation
marks. So this is a continuation of the lesson we just learned. Rule 4A: Put the question
mark at the end of the quotation if it applies to the words enclosed by the quotation marks.
So for example, car asked, Can you come to my hockey game tomorrow? Because this question
mark applies to this complete question right here inside the quotation marks. This is a question,
can you come to my hockey game tomorrow? We put the question mark inside the quotation marks.
But if the question mark applies to the sentence as a whole,
then we place the question mark at the end of the sentence. So for example, do you agree with the
saying Time is money? Here we have the question mark outside of the quotation marks, because
the question is this entire This is a complete question. The question mark does not apply to
time as money. We are asking if a person agrees with the same time as money. The saying itself
inside the quotation marks is not time as money. The question mark doesn't apply to what's inside
the quotation marks, it applies to the complete question. Okay. And rule number five can be
tricky for a lot of different people. An indirect question ends with a period, not a question mark.
So when a question is direct, you need to use a question mark at the end. A direct question
will often begin with one of these words, who, what, where, when, why, how can or May, when a
question is indirect, you need to use a period at the end to indicate this. So here's an example.
A direct question. Where does Bobby live? This is a question. So we have to end it with a question
mark. It's a question that needs an answer. Bobby lives in New York, for example, we're
asking the question, Where does Bobby live? And indirect question... I wonder where Bobby lives.
Note that here, we do not end this with a question mark. Because this is an indirect question.
It's just someone stating, I wonder where Bobby lives. No one is asking, Where does Bobby live?
They're just stating that they wonder where he lives. Okay, so it's not a direct question. So
we do not end it with a question mark. Another example of a direct question,
Can my boyfriend come to the wedding with me? This we have to end with a question mark,
because it's a question. Yes, your boyfriend can come to the wedding with you, or no,
but an indirect question. She asked if she could bring her boyfriend to the wedding.
So we're stating that she asked if she could bring her boyfriend to the wedding.
But we're not actually answering the question whether she can or cannot, or could or could not
bring her boyfriend to the wedding. This is not a direct question. So we end it with a period.
Okay. And finally, rule number six, we generally use a question mark at the end of a tag question.
A tag question is a statement followed by a short question. Tag questions are generally used to ask
if you agree with the statement. For example, Carlos speaks Spanish doesn t. We have to end
this with question mark, because it's a question. We want someone to answer if they agree with us.
Carlos speaks Spanish, doesn't he? Yes, he does. Okay, Carmen is sick, isn't she? Yes, she is. or
No, she isn't. It's a question. All of these are short questions. You aren't a teacher, are you?
No, I'm not. I'm a doctor, for example. So this would be correct. Today is Thursday,
isn't it? But it would be incorrect to right. Today is Thursday, isn't it?
No, this would be incorrect. Because we're asking a question. We want someone to agree with us. Yes,
it is Thursday, or No, it isn't. Okay. So remember to use question marks at the end of tag questions.
Okay, so now it is time to practice what we've just learned. So which of these sentences are
incorrect? I want you to write your answers in the comment section of this video or just write how
many you got out of six. You can pull out a little piece of paper and write down your answers. I'm
going to read all six of them. Some are correct, some are incorrect. And I want you to write which
ones are correct. Which ones are incorrect, and what we should do to correct them. So number one,
how are you? I'm okay, too. Should we go to that new restaurant tonight?
Three. Javier asked, Will you go to the dance with me? Four. You like cheesecake, don't you?
Five. Do you know my uncle Cade asked six. I wonder when the exam will be.
So pause this video and read through these and even go back if you want some extra
help. And now I'm going to help you out and correct these with you. So number one,
number one is incorrect. Now, this is only incorrect because we have a space here.
This is something I see all the time in my YouTube comments from subscribers is there always putting
a space at the end of a sentence, then putting a punctuation mark and then another space.
We don't need to do that we move remove this space. Okay. It should be How are
you? Question mark right beside the you. Okay. But the usage of the question mark is correct.
Number two is correct. Should we go to that new restaurant tonight? It's a question. It's a direct
question. It's correct. Number three is incorrect. And it's incorrect because we do not need and we
cannot use this period here at the end. This is a question, will you go to the dance with me?
And because it ends with a question mark, we do not need a period, we just end it like that with
the quotations after the question mark. The next one you like cheesecake, don't you? This
is a tag question. So we end it with a question mark, you like cheesecake? Don't you are asking
for the person to say Yes, I do. Or No, I don't. Do you know my uncle Kate asked, this is correct.
We're using a question mark in the middle of the sentence here. Because we're asking a question,
Do you know my uncle, so we're not going to use a comma or any other punctuation mark? Because this
is a question in the middle of the sentence. And finally, I wonder when the exam will be, this is
incorrect. And this people make this mistake all the time, even native English speakers, we end
this with a period because it is an indirect question. If this was or when is the exam?
And then a question mark? That would be correct, because that's a direct question, when is the exam
but this is I wonder when the exam will be? It's an indirect question. I'm not actually asking when
is the exam I'm wondering when it will be okay, so two of these were correct out of six and four of
them we had to correct so let me know how many you got right in the comment section of this video.
So thank you guys once again for watching this video. If you liked it, please click like make
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And stay tuned for more videos in my English writing essentials series
where I will be teaching you how to use hyphens, dashes and more.
Thanks again for watching and I'll see you in my next lesson.