Punctuation

1. Are you the person who asked, "Why"?

2. Are you the person who asked, "Why?"

3. Are you the person who asked, "Why?"?

May I know which sentence is correctly punctuated?

Thanks in advance.

Tan Elaine said:

1. Are you the person who asked, "Why"?

2. Are you the person who asked, "Why?"

3. Are you the person who asked, "Why?"?

May I know which sentence is correctly punctuated?

Thanks in advance.

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Good question.
I'd use the first example instinctively as the 2nd seems to need an exlamation mark after the quote, and the 3d is redundant.

Check out this:
The Question Mark

(from the link):

What if I said to you, "You've got a real problem here"? (Notice that the question mark here comes after the quotation mark and there is no period at the end of the statement.)

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Beg to differ:
A single question mark will suffice to end a quoted question within a question:

"Didn't he ask, 'What did we do, who preceded you?'" queried Johnson.

(also from Quotation Marks)

Differ on what?

The 'queried Johnson' part makes it a different type of sentence, to which, of course, could be applied different punctuation.

Why?
She asked "Why?"
Is she the person who asked, "Why?"

A question within a question - the one ?, per the site we both just searched, said only one is needed and it would be the one inside the quote.

Tan Elaine said:

1. Are you the person who asked, "Why"?

2. Are you the person who asked, "Why?"

3. Are you the person who asked, "Why?"?

May I know which sentence is correctly punctuated?

Thanks in advance.

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I agree with IHIVG. I would use sentence number 1, assuming that you want to use the quotation marks. As Gillnetter points out, you may also write it without the quotation marks, but the meaning is a bit different. I believe you are emphasizing the fact that the person in question actually spoke the word "why."

The problem has to do with where to place the question mark, inside the quotation mark or outside? Notice that in the sentence above I put the period inside the quotation mark. That is common in this situation.

However, your sentence includes a complete sentence ("Why?) uttered by someone else. In that case I would put the question mark on the outside.

These are fine points, however. You could probably get away with either 1. or 2. But perhaps there are others on this forum who have a different understanding of the punctuation rules.

Did you read the link I provided? It answers this exact question and says to put the question mark with the quoted question and to let that serve for the entire sentence-as-a-question as well. It's not my rule - I'm just quoting others. It, in turn, cites New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage

Barb_D said:

Did you read the link I provided? It answers this exact question and says to put the question mark with the quoted question and to let that serve for the entire sentence-as-a-question as well. It's not my rule - I'm just quoting others. It, in turn, cites New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage

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Thank you. Having read the page you cite I stand corrected.

Thanks to all the members who replied to my query.

Just as a personal note, I think all these rules are somewhat arbitrary. It's simply what is use the most often that becomes "the preferred style."

I've said dozens of time, if it doesn't interfere with your meaning or make it harder for your reader to understand, then whatever you come up with is probably going to be fine. I just dug in my heels a bit because I found a different answer on the very same Web site cited previously. If someone found another source entirely with a conflicting answer, I'd say "Fair enough - different styles."

Barb_D said:

Just as a personal note, I think all these rules are somewhat arbitrary. It's simply what is use the most often that becomes "the preferred style."

I've said dozens of time, if it doesn't interfere with your meaning or make it harder for your reader to understand, then whatever you come up with is probably going to be fine. I just dug in my heels a bit because I found a different answer on the very same Web site cited previously. If someone found another source entirely with a conflicting answer, I'd say "Fair enough - different styles."

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That site seems to be contradictory indeed; I'm still somewhat confused as to what is the most correct way of punctuating the sentences like those we discussed previously.

I agree with you that if the punctuation doesn't make the meaning ambiguous or hard to understand, then it's probably not that important (and there could be lots of cases where overwhelming majority would not care or even notice if it were incorrect). However, I found it somewhat hard to believe that the punctuation is simply a matter of 'style' as you said. I don't claim to be an expert of punctuation in English and I could be completely wrong, but I know that in my language the punctuation is the same rule as the grammar, on which we usually spend a lot of time in school (and by the way, English vs. Russian punctuation is not that different at all as far as I've noticed); whether you stick to the rules or not - it's of course your choice (and I probably break those rules every single passage that I write in both languages); but is it really just a matter of 'style' in English?

Certainly some punctuation will change the meaning of a sentence, but a lot of it is style. For example, in the US, the period always (always!) goes inside a quotation mark, regardless of whether it makes logical sense or what is quoted is a complete sentence. (It's one style rule I find bizarre, but I live and write here, so I follow it.) In the UK, they logically put the full stop inside the quotation mark if what is quoted is a full sentence and outside if it is not. Style.


(One famous example of how punctuation changes things:
A woman: without her, man is useless.
A woman without her man is useless.)

Other examples of style versus meaning is an author's choice to use em dashes or commas or parentheses to set off non-essential information.

Barb_D said:

Beg to differ:
A single question mark will suffice to end a quoted question within a question:

"Didn't he ask, 'What did we do, who preceded you?'" queried Johnson.

(also from Quotation Marks)

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Thank you for the link, Barb; it's a very good one.

Barb_D said:

Certainly some punctuation will change the meaning of a sentence, but a lot of it is style. For example, in the US, the period always (always!) goes inside a quotation mark, regardless of whether it makes logical sense or what is quoted is a complete sentence. (It's one style rule I find bizarre, but I live and write here, so I follow it.) In the UK, they logically put the full stop inside the quotation mark if what is quoted is a full sentence and outside if it is not. Style.


(One famous example of how punctuation changes things:
A woman: without her, man is useless.
A woman without her man is useless.)

Other examples of style versus meaning is an author's choice to use em dashes or commas or parentheses to set off non-essential information.

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Okay, Barb. I see. Thank you.
I understand there might be a difference between the UK and the US style of course, but I was not talking about it anyway.

My last (rather rhetorical) question though; it does not need a reply.
Why would anyone bother to ask about the 'correct' way of punctuation (and also teachers saying that it's X, not Y), when the simple answer to that question is "it's up to you".

IHIVG said:

Okay, Barb. I see. Thank you.
I understand there might be a difference between the UK and the US style of course, but I was not talking about it anyway.

My last (rather rhetorical) question though; it does not need a reply.
Why would anyone bother to ask about the 'correct' way of punctuation (and also teachers saying that it's X, not Y), when the simple answer to that question is "it's up to you".

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The answer, it seems to me, has to do with clarity. If you want your meaning to get across without impediment, it helps to use commas (for instance) that clearly establish your intended rhythm and your intended meaning. In addition, it helps to follow the grammatical rules accepted by the person to whom you are writing. If you don't, it may cause her to interrupt her train of thought to wonder whether or not you intended to punctuate in the way you did. You might think that that rule of punctuation doesn't make sense, but to suddenly change the rule is to risk having your reader lose the point, if only for a moment. I know that I have a hard enough time keeping my reader's attention as it is; I don't need punctuation to get in the way.

I wish I could remember who was talking about punctuation as little road signs that give your reader the same cues that signs do on the road. "Curve ahead" or "Be prepared for stop" or "detour ahead" or even "scenic by-pass."

Certainly there are WRONG ways to punctuate, but there are often multiples ways to do it correctly.

Barb_D said:

Certainly there are WRONG ways to punctuate, but there are often multiples ways to do it correctly.

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You know best.

Do you mind if I ask you what do you write?

Articles, brochures, case studies, presentations, project plans, company descriptions, Web copy ... um.... that's all I can think of for my current job. In the past, many, MANY customer letters and inserts, reference guides, responses to request for proposals. And for fun, fiction, but since no one pays for that, it doesn't count.

Barb_D said:

Articles, brochures, case studies, presentations, project plans, company descriptions, Web copy ... um.... that's all I can think of for my current job. In the past, many, MANY customer letters and inserts, reference guides, responses to request for proposals. And for fun, fiction, but since no one pays for that, it doesn't count.

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Of course the fiction counts. I'm sure many of us would be interested in what you've written, skilled wordsmith that you are.

Do you write too?

I'll show you mine if you show me yours!

Oops. That didn't sound right!