Telling or asking?
| Sentence type | Ends with | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Statement: tells you something | . | The park closes at six. |
| Command: tells someone to do something | . (or ! if it’s urgent) | Please close the door. |
| Question: asks something and expects an answer | ? | Where did you put my coat? |
Clues that it’s a question
- It starts with a question word: who, what, where, when, why, how, which, whose
- It starts with a verb that flips the order: Can we go? Do you like it? Is it ready? Will she come? Have you finished?
The big trap: W-words in the middle
Question words have a second job. When one appears in the middle of a sentence, it usually isn’t asking anything at all: it’s joining two parts together, pointing back to something already mentioned.
| W-word at the start, asking | ? | W-word in the middle, joining | . |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who won the marathon? | ? | I met Kate, who was running the marathon. | . |
| Which bag is yours? | ? | He lost the bag which had his boots in it. | . |
| Where do you live? | ? | This is the street where I live. | . |
| When does it start? | ? | I was asleep when the storm started. | . |
In every sentence on the right, the W-word refers back to the word just before it: Kate, the bag, the street. Nobody is waiting for an answer, so each one ends with a full stop.
Careful: a W-word at the start isn’t always a question either. When the bell rang, we lined up. ← full stop.
The tricky one: reported questions
When you report that someone asked something, it becomes a statement, so it ends with a full stop:
- Direct question: Where do you live?
- Reported question: Tom asked me where I live. ← full stop!
Watch out! A sentence can contain a question word and still be a statement: I wonder why the cat is hiding. ← full stop.
Top tip: ask yourself, “Is someone expecting an answer right now?” If yes, it needs a question mark. A W-word on its own is never enough: check where it sits and what it’s doing.
Which punctuation mark does this sentence need at the end?
🧥
Where did you put my coat