A question mark is the sign written at the end of a question. A hook over a dot.
Spanish opens a question with an upside-down one so the reader knows what is coming, which English never adopted and occasionally needs. The mark is not used after an indirect question, so asking whether somebody had gone takes a full stop, and that is one of the commonest punctuation errors. There is a figurative use, since a question mark over something means real doubt about it.
1nounquestion markThe punctuation mark used at the end of a question.
“He left out the question mark and it read as a statement.”
2noundoubtA doubt about something.
“There is a question mark over the whole scheme.”
Practised in A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 39 of A Man Called Ove.
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