The exclamation mark is sometimes used in conjunction with the question mark. Informally, exclamation marks may be repeated for additional emphasis (“That’s great!!!”), but this practice is generally considered only acceptable in casual or informal writing, such as text messages or online communication with friends and family. A sentence ending in an exclamation mark may be an exclamation (such as “Wow!” or “Boo!”), or an imperative (“Stop!”), or may indicate astonishment: “They were the footprints of a gigantic duck!” Exclamation marks are occasionally placed mid-sentence with a function similar to a comma, for dramatic effect, although this usage is rare: “On the walk, oh! there was a frightful noise.” While this kind of statement is excessive, there are appropriate ways to use exclamation points. The exclamation point is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or high volume, and often marks the end of a sentence. You’ve likely seen this overused on the internet: Declarative Why won’t you admit I’m right?.Additionally, question marks should not be used at the end of indirect questions. The direct questions corresponding to the examples above are How did Tamika manage it? Did I look that bad? Where are the reports? Notice how different word order is used in direct and indirect questions: in direct questions the verb usually comes before the subject, while indirect questions the verb appears second. Such clauses correspond to direct questions, which are questions actually asked. Indirect questions can be used in many of the same ways as direct ones, but they often emphasize knowledge or lack of knowledge: Some questions are used principally as polite requests (e.g., “Would you pass the salt?”).Īll of these questions can be categorized as direct questions, and all of these questions require a question mark at their ends. The information requested should be provided in the form of an answer.Ī rhetorical question is asked to make a point, and does not expect an answer (often the answer is implied or obvious). Question MarksĪ question mark comes at the end of a question. They’ve been at the end of every sentence on this page so far. Periods indicate a neutral sentence, and as such are by far the most common ending punctuation mark. A sentence is always followed by a single space, no matter what the concluding punctuation is.

There are three common punctuation marks that come at the end of a sentence: the period ( . ), the question mark ( ? ), and the exclamation point ( ! ).

Poem with dash and exclamation mark