another question about question marks

Gregg Bell · Jan 29, 2017

It has to do with those brief address issues again in fiction and whether to use a question mark or not.

This is the way I see it.

There's two ways of going.

1) Where the person just wants the other person's attention.

eg.

A customer asked Larry if Joe was in the back.

Larry turned toward the back of the store. Joe was right there. "Joe."

I guess that could be (but I wouldn't do this):

A customer asked Larry if Joe was in the back.

Larry turned toward the back of the store. Joe was right there. "Joe?"

2) Where the person has a question they're going to ask the other person.

eg.

Mary was hoping for some affection from him. "Michael?"

"What?"

"Can you put your arm around me for a while?"

And I suppose that could be (but I would be more likely to use the above):

Mary was hoping for some affection from him. "Michael."

"What?"

"Can you put your arm around me for a while?"

I just get mental about this stuff sometimes. Like I said in the earlier email "Michael?" can look like "Are you Michael?" to me. I guess it's all in the context. Any feedback (or rules of thumb) about this stuff will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

guttersquid · Jan 29, 2017

These two are easy. If you want the inflection to go up (because it's a question), you use a question mark. If not (because it's not a question), don't use one.

Michael. (Not a question)
Michael? (It's a question)

Same for Joe.

King Neptune · Jan 29, 2017

I agree with the squid.

ironmikezero · Jan 30, 2017

Agree with `squid and King Neptune . . .

Of course, if you're trying to write dialogue that mimics that very annoying "valley speak", where every sentence closes in "up-speak" (that deliberately raised inflection on the last word that smacks of a question--but isn't), a question mark would still be inappropriate in cases of declarative or exclamatory sentences. You'd have to describe that character's speech propensities in some other manner (like from the perspective of another character, who may find it annoying, amusing, cutesy, etc.).

Yes, I'll admit to being duly annoyed by it . . .

Gregg Bell · Jan 30, 2017

guttersquid said:
These two are easy. If you want the inflection to go up (because it's a question), you use a question mark. If not (because it's not a question), don't use one.

Michael. (Not a question)
Michael? (It's a question)

Same for Joe.

Thanks Squid. Okay, let me be just a bit anal here (because this stuff makes me nervous). I get the

Code:

Michael. (Not a question)

But

Code:

Michael? (It's a question)

that means that the person saying 'Michael?' is going to be asking a question, right? I mean, they are asking for the person's attention so that they can ask them a question. Because how is just

Michael?

a question? The only question that would definitively be would be "Are you Michael?"

Like I said I get kind of mental about this. Could you flesh this out a bit?

So in the second part of the first example (in my original post) the speaker by saying "Joe?" is basically saying: "Joe, are you back there?" Is that right? Conversely (in the first part of the first example) if Joe is standing right there the speaker is just getting his attention, right?

In the first part of the second example (Michael?) the speaker is basically asking for Michael's attention. In the second part of the second example (Michael) she's more or less demanding it. ('demanding' might be too strong a word but she's expecting his attention and not asking for it). Is that right?

I don't know, your explanation is wonderfully simple but I'm still a little fuzzy on this.

- - - Updated - - -

ironmikezero said:
Agree with `squid and King Neptune . . .

Of course, if you're trying to write dialogue that mimics that very annoying "valley speak", where every sentence closes in "up-speak" (that deliberately raised inflection on the last word that smacks of a question--but isn't), a question mark would still be inappropriate in cases of declarative or exclamatory sentences. You'd have to describe that character's speech propensities in some other manner (like from the perspective of another character, who may find it annoying, amusing, cutesy, etc.).

Yes, I'll admit to being duly annoyed by it . . .

Thanks Mike. Yeah, no valley speak for me. (Thank God.)

Dawnstorm · Feb 1, 2017

Gregg Bell said:
...that means that the person saying 'Michael?' is going to be asking a question, right? I mean, they are asking for the person's attention so that they can ask them a question. Because how is just

Michael?

a question? The only question that would definitively be would be "Are you Michael?"

Like I said I get kind of mental about this. Could you flesh this out a bit?

It's grammatically a question, but the question doesn't fulfill its primary function. It's not a request for information. Instead, it's part of the politeness rules of English.

"Michael?" is more polite than "Michael." You could see the question mark as a request for attention, and the fullstop/exclamation mark as a demand for attention. It's not quite that simple, I'm sure, but it should point you in the right direction. The question form is often used for requests. "Could you open the window?" is not, usually, a question about theoretic ability, but a request to open the window.

Basically, whether a character says "Michael?", "Michael." or "Michael!" depends on the situation, on the character's familiarity with Michael, on the character's understanding of cultural politeness rules, and on the character's personality.

So, yes, if the character's going to ask a question, "Michael?" is going to be the likely version (but by no means guaranteed). But it's not because you anticipite the grammatical form of the follow-up. It's the social situation: you're going to request the character's time and attention.

If what the character's going to say is for Michael's benefit, a fullstop (or exclamation mark, or comma) is going to be more likely. "Michael. You're going to want to see this."

Gregg Bell · Feb 1, 2017

Dawnstorm said:
It's grammatically a question, but the question doesn't fulfill its primary function. It's not a request for information. Instead, it's part of the politeness rules of English.

"Michael?" is more polite than "Michael." You could see the question mark as a request for attention, and the fullstop/exclamation mark as a demand for attention. It's not quite that simple, I'm sure, but it should point you in the right direction. The question form is often used for requests. "Could you open the window?" is not, usually, a question about theoretic ability, but a request to open the window.

Basically, whether a character says "Michael?", "Michael." or "Michael!" depends on the situation, on the character's familiarity with Michael, on the character's understanding of cultural politeness rules, and on the character's personality.

So, yes, if the character's going to ask a question, "Michael?" is going to be the likely version (but by no means guaranteed). But it's not because you anticipite the grammatical form of the follow-up. It's the social situation: you're going to request the character's time and attention.

If what the character's going to say is for Michael's benefit, a fullstop (or exclamation mark, or comma) is going to be more likely. "Michael. You're going to want to see this."

Thanks, Dawnstorm, for the superlative explanation. Wow. Thank you!

another question about question marks

Gregg Bell

guttersquid

I agree with Roxxsmom.

King Neptune

ironmikezero

practical experience, FTW

Gregg Bell

Dawnstorm

punny user title, here

Gregg Bell