Question mark
A question mark is a punctuation mark (?) placed at the end of a direct question to signal a rising inflection and invite an answer.
What is question mark?
The question mark is the punctuation mark that closes a direct question, replacing the period at the end of a sentence. It turns a statement into an inquiry by signaling rising inflection in speech and an expected response on the page. Indirect questions, which describe a question rather than ask one, take a period instead: "She asked whether the feature was live."
Direct: Is the feature live?
Indirect: She asked whether the feature was live.
Inside a quote: He asked, "Is the feature live?"
Why does question mark matter?
Questions are one of the most engaging tools in marketing copy, and the question mark is what makes them work. A well-placed question pulls the reader in by prompting them to answer in their head, which is why headlines, subject lines and CTA sections lean on them so often. Overuse dulls the effect, and questions that do not quite merit a question mark can make copy feel unsure of itself.
How do you use question mark?
End every direct question with a single question mark and no other terminal punctuation.
Place the question mark inside closing quotation marks when the quoted material is the question, and outside when only the surrounding sentence is.
Use questions sparingly in body copy, since every question mark asks the reader to pause, and too many pauses break the flow of a paragraph.
