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Is punctuation a question mark?
A question mark (?) is a punctuation symbol placed at the end of a sentence or phrase to indicate a direct question, as in: She asked, “Are you happy to be home?” The question mark is also called an interrogation point, note of interrogation, or question point.
Can you have a question mark in the middle of a sentence?
1. Do not use a comma after a question mark occurring in the middle of a sentence. When a question mark follows a quoted text, put it before the closing quotation mark if it applies just to the quoted text. Put the question mark outside the closing quotation mark if it applies to the entire sentence.
How do you punctuate a question?
To sum up the rules on question marks:
- If the quoted words are a question, put the question mark inside the quotation marks.
- If the entire sentence is a question, put the question mark outside the quotation marks.
What is the history of punctuation?
History. The first writing systems were either logographic or syllabic—for example, Chinese and Mayan script—which do not necessarily require punctuation, especially spacing. Punctuation is historically an aid to reading aloud. The oldest known document using punctuation is the Mesha Stele (9th century BC).
What is a question mark called?
The question mark ? (also known as interrogation point, query, or eroteme in journalism) is a punctuation mark that indicates an interrogative clause or phrase in many languages.
What are punctuation marks and examples?
There are 14 punctuation marks that are commonly used in English grammar. They are the period, question mark, exclamation point, comma, semicolon, colon, dash, hyphen, parentheses, brackets, braces, apostrophe, quotation marks, and ellipsis.
Do you put a comma after a question mark in quotes?
In cases when a question mark is used, there is no need to use a comma as well; instead, the attributive tag should come immediately after the closing quotation marks. The comma between the quote and the attributive tag is not required, and should be removed. The same rule applies to exclamation points.
How do you punctuate a quote within a sentence?
Proper Punctuation – Quotes
- If you start by telling who said it, use a comma and then the first quotation mark.
- If you put the quote first and then tell who said it, use a comma at the end of the sentence, and then the second quotation mark.
- Punctuation always goes inside the quotation marks if it is a direct quote.
Who invented punctuation?
scholar Aristophanes of Byzantium
By the fifth century BC, Greek playwrights were using some basic symbols to show where actors should pause, and the scholar Aristophanes of Byzantium (c257– c185 BC) invented a formal system of punctuation. He also designed accents to aid pronunciation.