The Question Mark

A question mark is used to indicate a direct question. It appears inside quotation marks when the quoted text asks a question, and outside quotation marks when the sentence itself is a question.

Did you have a good time in Florida?

My colleague asked, "Did you have a good time in Florida?"

What did she mean by "I get my Florida sunshine from a can"?

For an indirect question, which reports what someone else has asked, or presents a question you have asked yourself, use a period.

Did you see any alligators in the Everglades? [direct question]

She asked if I had seen any alligators in the Everglades. [indirect question]

In professional writing, don't use more than one question mark in a sentence, or combine a question mark with other forms of punctuation.

You went to Florida and you didn't visit Disney World?!

In scholarly writing, a question mark in parentheses is used to indicate uncertainty about a date, number, or word.

Rumours persist that Walt Disney's body was cryogenically (?) preserved in 1965.