|
|
OT: Punctuation/grammar Q
|
If you write a sentence like "Could you please send me your details again as
I have lost them" should it have a question mark on the end of it, or should
it be re-worded so that a question mark is definitely not required?
|
Why? What have you got against question marks? And yes, there should
definitely be one there.
|
Heh. Because it doesn't read like a question and you don't make the same
sound at the end of the sentence as you would if it didn't have the "as I
have lost them" bit.
|
The sentence, as you have *written* it, is just *wrong*. When spoken the
meaning is clear as you can use inflection as a signifier.
When writing the instruction you need to be more precise to convey the
same meaning. As someone else said, you need to drop the "could you" so
that the sentence signifies a request to act. As written, the sentence
asks if it is possible to act which might elicit the details you want or
a single syllable response from a Socratic pedant.
|
|
Why not just split it? "Could you please send..." "I've lost the originals."
|
More creativity is needed. Such as: "The dog ate the originals."
|
"A big boy took them on the way into work"
|
|
|
Well, that was the question and it seems the answer is writing proper
sentences in the first place :)
|
|
|
Well you may not think of it as a question, but using the form 'could
you' does imply that you're asking, rather than telling, the other
party what you'd like from them. So a question it is. If you want to
phrase it as an instruction, then do so.
|
|
|
|
Shouldn't it be, "Would you..........."? You KNOW that he could. What you
want to know is if he would.
|
*Smacks forehead several times*
|
|
|
Just remove the 'Could you'.
|
Well, that was just an example but I've written questions with bits tagged
on the end, as above, lots of times and I've often wondered if I should use
a question mark or not.
Perhaps it's just my writing style.
Example two: "Do you know if I should put a question mark at the end of this
sentence as I'm not entirely sure"
|
Yes, you should, it's a question!
|
|
|
Or: "I would be considerably obliged if you were to be so good as to send
..."
|
|
|
|