The Mechanics

Good morning to you all. It's mechanics day!

Today it's all about direct and indirect questions.

'Are you going to the game?' is a direct question and because it is direct it requires a question mark.

'I asked him if he was going to the game. ' is an indirect question and doesn't require a question mark.

These two examples are pretty straightforward I realize but it isn't always that simple, for example: Why should allegations that go unchallenged in America be subject of legal action in Britain, asks Roy Greenslade.

This above example doesn't require a question mark. Why not? It is a novel example of an indirect question. If we rewrote it like this 'Roy Greensdale asks why should allegations that go unchallenged in America be the subject of legal action in Britain,' you can see that is is not direct at all.

Here is another example that really illustrates the direct versus indirect idea: Roy Greensdale asks, 'Why should allegations that go unchallenged in America be subject of legal action in Britain?' (Notice the slight punctuation difference between this sentence and the one above.)

Should there be a question mark at the end of his 'question?' No. The sentence should end with a period or be rewritten to include a direct question.

A lot of writers make these errors and I remember debating these exact issues when I worked with a group of editors in-house. Indirect questions aren't always obvious. In the indirect examples above someone else is speaking for Roy and that's what makes it indirect. I'll try to keep that in mind when these issues come up again--because I know they will.

Have a great day everyone!

A demain.