full stops or question mark

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

Please read the sentence:

1. Why don't you go downtown and check with the police, though they 'll probably think we're crazy or something.
2. Why don't you go and have a look at the arts and crafts store.

All such sentences in my dictionaries are ended with quesiton marks. My question is 'why do the two end with full stops'?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[insatia]

These two sentences you wrote here are not interrogative sentences but they are simply suggestions because of 'why dont' so it is normal that they end with full stops instead of question mark. Do you use question mark here, why dont we go to the cinema, you dont need actually, cause it is not a real question. ı hope ı could explain it.

[jiang]

Dear insatia,
Thank you very much for your explanation. The problem is that all such examples in my dictionaries are in question mark.

Best wishes,

Jiang

Originally Posted by insatia

These two sentences you wrote here are not interrogative sentences but they are simply suggestions because of 'why dont' so it is normal that they end with full stops instead of question mark. Do you use question mark here, why dont we go to the cinema, you dont need actually, cause it is not a real question. ı hope ı could explain it.

[Tdol]

It's fairly common not to use the question mark for requests and suggestions.

[jiang]

So both are correct?
Jiang

Originally Posted by Tdol

It's fairly common not to use the question mark for requests and suggestions.

[Tdol]

Yes- they're not really questions, but they do have question word order, so there are arguments for both views.

[jiang]

Dear Tdol,

Thank you very much for your reply. Now I see.

Jiang

Originally Posted by Tdol

It's fairly common not to use the question mark for requests and suggestions.