The Question Mark

Use the question mark:
1. At the end of all direct questions

• He should quit smoking, shouldn't he?
• He shouldn't have quit his diet, should he?
• They're not doing very well, are they?
• He finished on time, didn't he?

Sometimes within parentheses, to indicate uncertainty about a fact. For example,
"In her former life she was born in 1211 (?) in a tiny Norwegian village."
2. Do not use the question mark for reported questions
a. I wonder if Cheney will run for vice president again.
b. She asked if I was Spanish.
c. I wonder whether Cheney will run again.
Place the question mark inside the quotation marks only if it's part of the quotation. Otherwise, it goes outside the quotation marks. For example, "He wondered, 'Why me?'"

General notes:
Don't forget to place a question mark at the end of long sentences that contain a question
a. Isn't it true that global warming is responsible for more and more problems which are having a disastrous effect on the world's climate and leading to many millions of people in countries that can least afford it having to contend with more and more hardship?
Sometimes a question will actually end with a series of brief questions. When that happens, especially when the brief questions are more or less follow-up questions to the main question, each of the little questions can begin with a lowercase letter and end with a question mark.

• Who is responsible for executing the plan? the coach? the coaching staff? the players?

Sometimes a question mark can be placed within a sentence

When a question ends with an abbreviation, end the abbreviation with a period and then add the question mark.

• Didn't he use to live in Washington, D.C.?

When a question constitutes a polite request, it is usually not followed by a question mark. This becomes more true as the request becomes longer and more complex:

• Would everyone in the room who hasn't received an ID card please move to the front of the line.