[Grammar] Please tell me where IS YOUR BROTHER/YOUR BROTHER IS ./?

[Sahil Dhankhar]

Which is correct?

A
1:- Please tell me where is your brother.
2:- Please tell me where is your brother?
3:- Please tell me where your brother is.
4:- Please tell me where your brother is?

B
1:- I would like to know where do we use question mark.
2:- I would like to know where do we use question mark?
3:- I would like to know where we use question mark.
4:- I would like to know where we use question mark?

C
1:- Tell me who are you?
2:- Tell me who are you.
3:- Tell me who you are?
4:- Tell me who you are.

This is certainly not my homework.
I find it difficult to know when the given statement is really a question or general statement. So I would like to seek help regarding the topic when a statement is really a question and when it just seems to be. I also find it difficult to get where I SHOULD/ SHOULD I use a question mark.

 

[emsr2d2]

As a general rule, if the sentence doesn't start with Who/What/Why/Where/When (or with an auxiiliary "do/did" or "have/has"), it's probably not a question.

Where are you?
Tell me where you are.
I want to know where you are.
I would like to know where you are.

Who is he?
Tell me who he is.
I want to know who he is.
I would like to know who he is.

Do you have a cat?
Tell me if you have a cat.
I want to know if you have a cat.
I would like to know if you have a cat.

Why do you have a cat?
Tell me why you have a cat.
I want to know why you have a cat.
I would like to know why you have a cat.

What is that?
Tell me know what that is.
I want to know what that is.
I would like to know what that is.

Have you been to France?
Tell me if you've been to France.
I want to know if you've been to France.
I would like to know if you've been to France.

Note the difference in word order between questions and statements.

 

[Raymott]

A
3:- "Please tell me where your brother is." This is an imperative, not a question.

B
3:- "I would like to know where we use a question mark." This is an indicative sentence. It tells us what you would like to know.

C
4:- Tell me who you are. See 1.

None of those are questions. Here are the relevant questions:
A. Where is your brother?
B. Where do we use a question mark?
C. Who are you?

 

[Sahil Dhankhar]

Is "how" also included in your reply:- "As a general rule, if the sentence doesn't start with Who/What/Why/Where/When (or with an auxiiliary "do/did" or "have/has"), it's probably not a question." ?

 

[Sahil Dhankhar]

Thank you very much for taking out some of your precious time.

 

[GoesStation]

Is "how" also included in your reply:- "As a general rule, if the sentence doesn't start with Who/What/Why/Where/When (or with an auxiiliary "do/did" or "have/has"), it's probably not a question." ?

Yes. Also note that the subject and verb are inverted in questions:

How is your father?

He is fine.

 

[jutfrank]

To take this a step further, I would suggest that the meaning of a question is that one is asking something, regardless of the form of what is uttered. The use of a question mark plays a vital role in how the reader interprets the meaning of the remark. Since they employ question marks, the following could all be construed as questions.

Excuse me, I was wondering what time it was?
I thought you might like to join me for dinner?
He said what?
You followed him?
And he agreed?

The problem here, though, is what constitutes asking and what is merely just a means of eliciting a response.

Well?
[answering the phone] Yes?
[entering an empty shop] Hello?

 

[tzfujimino]

[...]
What is that?
Tell me [STRIKE]know[/STRIKE] what that is.
[...]

Please delete this post after the typo has been corrected.

 

[Raymott]

Excuse me, I was wondering what time it was?
I thought you might like to join me for dinner?

Really? I agree with your sentences 3-5. But the above two don't have a rising inflection. I also agree with a question mark on a single word, but the scenarios you've given would obviously have to be written to require a mark.
"Hello?" he said on entering the empty shop. But what about "Hello?" he asked on entering the empty shop?

PS: Sorry about the formatting. I've fought the editor long enough. It has won.

 

[jutfrank]

Excuse me, I was wondering what time it was?
I thought you might like to join me for dinner?

Really? I agree with your sentences 3-5. But the above two don't have a rising inflection.

The intonation is not actually relevant here, though they could be uttered with rising intonation. I wanted to show that the speaker is using these forms to effectively ask What time is it? and Would you like to join me for dinner?

I also agree with a question mark on a single word, but the scenarios you've given would obviously have to be written to require a mark.

I don't see why you think so. The presence of a question mark alone would be enough for a reader to interpret these in the ways I suggest (though of course there would be context). Maybe I misunderstand your point?

 

[SoothingDave]

"I was wondering what time it was" is not a question. Neither is "I thought you might like to join me for dinner."

They're both declarative statements.

 

[jutfrank]

"I was wondering what time it was" is not a question. Neither is "I thought you might like to join me for dinner."

They're both declarative statements.

You've missed the whole point—I wasn't talking about the grammar. I was talking about the pragmatic use of declaratives as questions. The idea of a question being defined by the effect it has rather than by its interrogative form. If you add question marks to the above, it shows they are meant as questions.

 

[Raymott]

I partly agree. I occasionally use a question mark on what is not grammatically a question, but which has interrogative force: "Maybe I've offended you?"; "Perhaps he hasn't told you yet?"

I wouldn't recommend it to students.

 

[jutfrank]

I wouldn't recommend it to students.

Really? Why not? It's hardly uncommon.

Doesn't it depend on the student's pre-existing level of competence and whether you think he/she will be able to use it effectively?

 

[Raymott]

Yes, I was going to add "until they know what they are doing".
But I meant primarily in exams or assessed work. I can imagine that many markers would consider it wrong.

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, I was going to add "until they know what they are doing".
But I meant primarily in exams or assessed work. I can imagine that many markers would consider it wrong.

I agree that it would be very unlikely to be appropriate usage in an academic exam essay but I can imagine it could be used appropriately as part of a less formal kind of exam question. Of course, it all depends on the exam genre and whether the use is appropriate. It's irrelevant whether the work is assessed. A good assessor will be able to judge the appropriacy of use—if they consider it wrong, they would have a reason.

 

[Sahil Dhankhar]

What I apprehend from your post is:- The questions marks in your examples are indeed incorrect if we stick to classic rules of grammar but they can be used in informal style of writing to hint the reader that they have a strong sense of questioning.

Have I got it right?

 

[GoesStation]

As a learner, you should never use a question mark except after a properly-formed question. The only exception is that you can use one after a single word which is used as a question, like the one at the end of this post. Okay?

 

[SoothingDave]

You've missed the whole point—I wasn't talking about the grammar. I was talking about the pragmatic use of declaratives as questions. The idea of a question being defined by the effect it has rather than by its interrogative form. If you add question marks to the above, it shows they are meant as questions.

No, I haven't missed the point. I am talking about proper grammar. We only put question marks after questions. Declaratives may be used to elicit responses, but that does not make them "questions."

In my opinion.

 

[jutfrank]

No, I haven't missed the point. I am talking about proper grammar. We only put question marks after questions. Declaratives may be used to elicit responses, but that does not make them "questions."

With respect Dave, I meant that the point of my post was that I'm using a different definition of 'question' from yours. A pragmatic rather than a syntactic definition. These two ways of defining what a question is need to be distinguished.