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Pedants' corner
Original poster

where to put a ? mark

26 replies

claig · 18/02/2011 20:09

Can anyone tell me where to put a question mark in a sentence like

Do you know her, because I don't?

is it at the end as above or should it be

Do you know her? because I don't

OP posts:
Jareth · 18/02/2011 20:10

I don't know her, do you?

Monty27 · 18/02/2011 20:11

At the end of the sentence.

southeastastra · 18/02/2011 20:12

after the question :S

and no, i don't know her

BikeRunSki · 18/02/2011 20:12

Do you know her? is the question.
Because I don't is a statement after the question.

But in colloquial English, I reckon either version would be right. But deinitely the first version.

I am happy to be corrected though. I am an engineer so better with numbers.

Original poster
claig · 18/02/2011 20:14

Thanks, the end has it Smile

OP posts:
WhatsWrongWithYou · 18/02/2011 20:14

I think your second option makes grammatical sense; the first phrase (Do you know her?) is a question, the last (Because I don't) a statement. Note a capital letter follows a q-mark.

WhatsWrongWithYou · 18/02/2011 20:14

Crossed post, BRS.

Original poster
claig · 18/02/2011 20:15

what about

do you swim, do you ski or do you jog?

also at the end, or after each question?

OP posts:
Mouseybrown · 18/02/2011 20:15

I wouldn't put one on at all. The last part of the sentance isn't a question so at the end is wrong, and it acts as a full stop so it can't go in the middle.

Original poster
claig · 18/02/2011 20:16

Thanks BikeRun and WhatsWrong, that's got me thinking.

OP posts:
southeastastra · 18/02/2011 20:21

do you swim, ski or jog?

would be the correnct engrish surely

Original poster
claig · 18/02/2011 20:23

good point. How on earth I passed English GCE, I don't know?

OP posts:
southeastastra · 18/02/2011 20:26

where i put it Grin

Original poster
claig · 18/02/2011 20:30

yes, but what about in teh sentence

How on earth I passed English GCE, I don't know?

Are there any good books that explain all of these fascinating rules, or am I forever doomed to keep guessing?

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 18/02/2011 20:32

If you say it out loud, normally your voice goes up slightly just before a question mark.

Do you know her? Because I don't.

not

Do you know her, because I don't?

Unless you are a teenager in which case every sentence ends with the voice-going-up-questioning-tone Grin

Original poster
claig · 18/02/2011 20:34

Excellent BertieBotts. I think that is it. Thank you.

OP posts:
WhatsWrongWithYou · 18/02/2011 20:45

See, you keep writing as if you're speaking, and there's a big difference as to what's deemed correct for written English, following rules of grammar etc, and making yourself understood verbally.

Posting on a forum blurs the lines I think, but I can't write as I'd speak - I just can't ('s what makes a pedant, I suppose).

Of course, 'Eats, Shoots and leaves' is the book that springs to mind, but I'm sure there are loads to explain all this in - well - plain English!

Your comment about passing GCE English isn't a question, it's a statement, so it could have either a full-stop or an exclamation mark at the end, depending on how much emphasis you wanted to give it.

I wouldn't dream of saying any of this had you not asked the question, btw - that would be rude (exclamation mark?)

Original poster
claig · 18/02/2011 20:52

thanks for pointing it out. I am sick of writing loads of posts and never being sure if I am way off the mark. I agree about the passing the GCE statement, I thought it wasn't a question, the second time I looked at it. Initially, I thought that the 'How' meant that it was a question, but of course, that is nonsense, because you can say

How good you are!

I have been meaning to improve my English for a while and have seen William Strunk Elements of Style mentioned often. I will get Eats, Shoots etc. Any other good recommendations?

OP posts:
WhatsWrongWithYou · 18/02/2011 20:59

Just looking on Amazon, but 'Rediscover Grammar' by Dr David Crystal looks good.

Original poster
claig · 18/02/2011 21:03

thanks, I will look at that.
I recently bought Simon Heffer's 'Strictly English', which is interesting. But, have only skimmed it as yet. He took a year's sabbatical to write it, so there is a lot of good stuff in there.

OP posts:
Monty27 · 19/02/2011 00:23

Claig, you put the ? after the question. What you say later is seperate.

Original poster
claig · 19/02/2011 09:33

Thanks Monty. I will start doing that.

OP posts:
VictorianIce · 19/02/2011 16:35

'Because I don't" isn;t, strictly speaking, a sentence, it's a subordinate clause which cannot stand alone grammatically. Neither can it go with a phrase like 'do you know her?' - as the 'because' suggests a causal relationship between the two parts of the sentence, which isn't the case here either.

VictorianIce · 19/02/2011 16:39

Please excuse general rubbishness of grammar and punctuation in the above!
self-flagellates in name of pedantry

StealthPolarBear · 19/02/2011 16:44

I don't think that can work as a written sentence, and in itself doesn't make sense. What you are saying is:
"Do you know her? I don't"
or
"Do you know her? The reason I ask is because I don't."
The "I don't" doesn't follow from "Do you know her?" so "because" is meaningless