Grammarfanatic  +  276004 Wed, 04 Oct 06 01:05 PM Regarding the subject of direct or indirect questions, I have seen on numerous occasions a construction where a direct question ending with a "?" follows a colon. Surely (I'm thinking) that would be an indirect question, so shouldn't end with a question mark, for example:   "Throughout the conference we will be asking the question: Where do we stand on tax cuts?".   Am I right in thinking that both the colon and the question mark are out of place here?   What would you suggest?   I hope you can help. Grammarfanatic Joined on Wed, Oct 4 2006 New Member 23 We're gonna need a bigger forum. Constructions, Colons, Question Marks, Indirect Questions, Direct Questions

	Inchoateknowledge  +  276014 Wed, 04 Oct 06 01:35 PM "Am I right in thinking that both the colon and the question mark are out of place here?" No, they are needed; however, you can substitute a comma for the colon. "Throughout the conference COMMA we will be asking the question: Where do we stand on tax cuts?"(.) The full stop is dispensable and the comma after "conference" I would insert. Inchoateknowledge Joined on Wed, May 3 2006 Senior Member 2,549 Beep! Beep! :) Colons, Commas, Question Marks

	Clive  +  276195 Wed, 04 Oct 06 10:56 PM Hi, "Throughout the conference we will be asking the question: Where do we stand on tax cuts?". I would write this as   Throughout the conference we will be asking the question, "Where do we stand on tax cuts?"   A comma after 'conference' is optional.   Best wishes, Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,580 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo Commas, Question Marks

	Grammarfanatic  +  276198 Wed, 04 Oct 06 11:12 PM If you replace the colon with a comma then surely you end up with this: Throughout the conference we will be asking, where do we stand on tax cuts? I would have thought that was ungrammatical. Is that a direct or an indirect question? It starts off as indirect and ends as direct. With the comma replacing the colon the sentence would have to be reconstructed or quotation marks used, wouldn't they? For example:   Throughout the conference we will be asking where we stand on tax cuts. or Throughout the conference we will be asking, "Where do we stand on tax cuts?" What do you think? Many thanks. Grammarfanatic Colons, Commas, Question Marks

	Inchoateknowledge  +  276338 Thu, 05 Oct 06 09:08 AM  Throughout the conference we will be asking, "[w ]here do we stand on tax cuts?" Giving it a little bit more thought, is it grammatical to separate the verb from its object: "where do we stand on tax cuts", which is an independent clause? No comma on the grounds of what I have just said, IMO. or Throughout the conference we will be asking that "[w ]here do we stand on tax cuts?" NO COMMA Square brackets mean, when the whole sentence is in consideration, "where"  requires its initial letter not to be capitalized, although when the direct question stands alone, it is to be capitalized. This is how I perceive this.   Throughout the conference we will be asking where we stand on tax cuts. OK or Throughout the conference we will be asking, "Where do we stand on tax cuts?" YES but I prefer this: Throughout the conference we will be asking, "[w ]here do we stand on tax cuts?" Inchoateknowledge Verbs, Clauses, Commas, Question Marks, Direct Questions