Question marks where the question includes a question within quotation marks.

English translation: Have you read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

22:38 Nov 19, 2019

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Linguistics / Grammar and punctuation

English term or phrase: Question marks where the question includes a question within quotation marks.

Dear colleagues,

What would be the correct way to ask the following question:

Have you read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"?

OR

Have you read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Logic tells me that the closing question mark of the title is not really part of the question, so I need to properly close the question itself with another question mark, however odd it may look.

A coworker of mine disagrees.

What say you?

George Rabel KudoZ activity Questions: 505 (1 open) (14 closed without grading) Answers: 4403
Local time: 00:22

Selected answer:Have you read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Explanation:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who's_Afraid_of_Virginia_Woolf...
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

https://www.dailywritingtips.com/quotation-marks-and-punctua...
The third question asks if two question marks are needed when a quotation is couched within a question. For example: The professor asked the class, “Did you enjoy the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”?

Answer: No. One question mark is sufficient: The professor asked the class, “Did you enjoy the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

One question mark is sufficient. Your colleague is correct, IMO.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 mins (2019-11-19 22:57:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/opinion/tn-blr-...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 21 mins (2019-11-19 23:00:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Chicago Style Workout 15: Punctuation and Closing Quotation Marks (CMOS 6.09–11 )
A period precedes closing quotation marks, whether double or single. ...
Colons and semicolons—unlike periods and commas—follow closing quotation marks. ...
A question mark always follows closing quotation marks.
More items...•May 30, 2017
Chicago Style Workout 15: Punctuation and Closing Quotation ...
https://cmosshoptalk.com › 2017/05/30 › chicago-style-workout-15-punctua...
Search for: How do you use quotation marks in Chicago style?
Can you use two punctuation marks at the end of a sentence?
***Two last rules: —Periods (..), question marks (??), and exclamation marks (!!) do not double up. ... ****—A period never follows an exclamation mark or question mark. If a period collides with one of these at the end of a sentence, the word punctuation wins and the other goes away.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2019-11-19 23:07:27 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/search.epl
[16th ed.] 13.28 Quotations and “quotes within quotes”
Search The Chicago Manual of Style --> --> --> 13: Quotations and Dialogue Chapter Contents » Quotation Marks » Double or Single 13.28 Quotations and “quotes within quotes” Quoted words, phrases, and sentences...When the material quoted consists entirely of a quotation within a quotation, only one set of quotation marks need be employed (usually double quotation marks).... Question marks and exclamation points are placed just within the set of quotation marks ending the element to which such terminal punctuation belongs....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2019-11-20 01:32:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

1 Answer. According to this source, using two question marks in a sentence is not correct where both quoted words and the sentence are questions. For those rare occasions when both the quoted words and the sentence are questions, put the question mark inside the quotation marks.
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/295832/are-two-q...

How should a question which quotes a question be punctuated? 2 answers
Is it technically correct to use two question marks in the sentence below, i.e. one for the quoted question and the other for the overall question?

Did she say, "Where's the coffee?"?

According to this source, using two question marks in a sentence is not correct where both quoted words and the sentence are questions.

To re-iterate the explanation

For those rare occasions when both the quoted words and the sentence are questions, put the question mark inside the quotation marks.

Here’s an example of this rule:

Did the mover really ask, “Is that lady for real?” No matter what, don’t use two question marks:

Wrong: Did Betsy ask, “What’s the number of a good lawyer?”?

Right: Did Betsy ask, “What’s the number of a good lawyer?”

[Source: How to Punctuate Quotations with Question Marks]

But 'this source' is essentially a style guide. At least one other says that double punctuation is not considered incorrect per se, especially in England. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 24 '15 at 15:37
It may be accepted, but it is not "visually appealing", to quote Andrew Leach from this answer. I'll edit my answer accordingly. – BiscuitBoy Dec 24 '15 at 16:06

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 17 hrs (2019-11-21 16:34:09 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Thank you George.

Selected response from:

Taña Dalglish
Jamaica
Local time: 23:22

Grading comment

Fantastic, well-documented answer.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +5

Use the two question marks

JaneTranslates

5 +3

Have you read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"?

Francisco Chagas

Have you read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Beka E (X)

2 +2

Have you read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Taña Dalglish

Discussion entries: 4

Answers

15 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

question marks where the question includes a question within quotation marks. Have you read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"?

Explanation:
It would be wise to treat the title as a variable*, all punctuation in it should not account for the overall structure of the phrase it has been inserted into.

Have you read "X"?

Francisco Chagas
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:22
Native speaker of:

Portuguese

16 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

question marks where the question includes a question within quotation marks. Use the two question marks

Explanation:
Or rewrite to avoid the situation.

I've just read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Have you read it?
"WAoVW" is a famous play; have you read it?

I agree with your logic and I teach it your way. However, "Virginia" is a play, isn't it? I would use italics, not quotation marks, to indicate the title of a play or a book. In that case, I would let one question mark suffice.

Word of warning: I haven't found authoritative support for ANY solution for this problem.

JaneTranslates
Puerto Rico
Local time: 00:22
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 12

1 day 12 hrs confidence:

question marks where the question includes a question within quotation marks. Have you read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Explanation:
We need to use like this to eradicate redundancy.

Beka E (X)
Kenya
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Oromo,

Amharic

15 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Have you read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Taña Dalglish
Jamaica
Local time: 23:22
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8

Grading comment

Fantastic, well-documented answer.

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

Question marks where the question includes a question within quotation marks.

English translation: Have you read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

Your current localization setting

Select a language

Question marks where the question includes a question within quotation marks.

English translation: Have you read "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language