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

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Ducklet Cat

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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 :)
 

5jj

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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.
 

Ducklet Cat

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Great, Thanks :)
 

5jj

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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.
 

Ducklet Cat

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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:
 
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