Tham khảo tài liệu 'penguin dictionary of american english usage and style_8', ngoại ngữ, anh ngữ phổ thông phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả | 344 punctuation Should - Should Not. Invest in a Computer All twelve question marks could not turn that phrase into a proper question such as Should I or should I not invest in a computer Nor could the spacious hyphen or the sextet of dots contribute anything neither being bona fide punctuation. C. Two opposing views Does a request or statement in the form of a question call for a question mark Grammarians differ. H. W. Fowler argued the affirmative. Among his examples Will you please stand back and Will it be believed that. . . presenting an incredible fact of sizable length. Because each is in the grammatical form of a direct question each should end with a question mark even though it is equivalent in sense to a request or statement. Theodore M. Bernstein took essentially the opposite view that no question mark should be used when an answer is not expected or when the writer is merely making a request. He gave as respective examples May we have the pleasure of hearing from you soon and Would you please send us a duplicate copy of your invoice. Fowler would stick question marks at the end of those two. So would I. They look incomplete and a writer of each would want a response though not a yes or no answer. The Chicago Manual of Style wants no question mark at the end of any request courteously disguised as a question. But why give up the dis-guise and the courtesy prematurely D. With other punctuation When a question mark does not end a sentence may a comma follow Most authorities think not. They approve of this form Do you choose to run they asked. A few others approve of this form Do you choose to run they asked. Some sentences may be followed either by question marks or by exclamation points depending on the meaning to be conveyed. If an answer is sought How common is that mistake If the sentence is exclamatory or rhetorical How common is that mistake The writer of a music textbook made a choice between the two marks in describing Beethoven s attitude toward
