Place a question mark or exclamation point within closing quotation marks if the punctuation applies to the quotation itself. Place the punctuation outside the closing quotation marks if the punctuation applies to the whole sentence. Phillip asked, "Do you need this book?"
How do you put a question mark in a quote?
To sum up the rules on question marks:
- If the quoted words are a question, put the question mark inside the quotation marks.
- If the entire sentence is a question, put the question mark outside the quotation marks.
Does question mark go inside or outside parentheses?
The rules for question marks and parentheses are similar to the rules for question marks and quotation marks. If a question mark applies to the parenthetical information, place the question mark inside the parentheses: I saw the chicken (or was it the rooster?) crossing the road.
