When not to put a question mark after the "wh"s?!

Hello :)

Imagine this is a title of a magazine story:
Why did doctors tell us not to eat fast food?

Then we ideally put a question mark because this is clearly a question.

But what about this:

Why Doctors told not to eat fast food


Do we put a question mark after that or not?
It starts with "why", but the meaning is not a question, it is rather affirmative. It's like saying:
This is why doctors told us not to eat fast food.

So, do we put a question mark or not?

Thanks :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ducklet Cat

Hello :)

Why Doctors told us not to eat fast food


Do we put a question mark after that or not?
It starts with "why", but the meaning is not a question, it is rather affirmative. It's like saying:
This is why doctors told us not to eat fast food.

So, do we put a question mark or not?

---

No, for the reason you have given.

Similarly, the example below reports a question, but is not itself a question:

He asked why doctors told us not to eat fast food.

Great, Thanks :)

If you are clear on that, I'll add one that I refrained from mentioning in my last post:

Did he ask why doctors told us not to eat fast food?

The words in italics are, as before, not a direct question.
However the words in bold are a direct question, and require the question mark at the end.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fivejedjon

If you are clear on that, I'll add one that I refrained from mentioning in my last post:

Did he ask why doctors told us not to eat fast food?

The words in italics are, as before, not a direct question.
However the words in bold are a direct question, and require the question mark at the end.

---

That's very instructive. Thanks. :up: