Ghost Writer  +  250056 Sat, 29 Jul 06 02:34 AM When writing out statements that later lead to a question, how does a person introduce the question to the read in a grammatically correct way? Example: But if there is no such thing as a permanent self or soul, then the obvious question is - who is this person that eats, drinks, breathes, thinks, forms relationships and has a career? (source: http://buddhism.about.com/library/weekly/aa070702a.htm) This quote uses a statement, but importantly "the obvious question is..." What is the correct way to lead onto a question when using a statement? Is the dash or hyphen the correct punctuation to use? I've been using the colon along with dependent and independent claues: Ex: ...then this leads to an obvious question: Who is this person that eats, drinks...? Ghost Writer Joined on Sun, Jul 2 2006 New Member 31 American English is the type of English I'm using. Colons, Punctuation, Hyphens

	Mister Micawber  +  250067 Sat, 29 Jul 06 02:52 AM The colon is more formal; the m-dash is gaining in popularity, though.  Or, why use any mark?--  The obvious question is "Who is this person?" Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,803 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.' Colons

	CalifJim  +  250072 Sat, 29 Jul 06 03:04 AM I've even seen it without the quotation marks, in a structure I've heard described as semi-indirect quotation.  Or was it semi-direct?  ... obvious question is who is this person that ... Indirect would have the is at the end, but this is awkward because it separates who and is by such a heavy structure. CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,415 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Quotation Marks

	Clive  +  250080 Sat, 29 Jul 06 04:30 AM Hi guys, But if there is no such thing as a permanent self or soul, then the obvious question is - who is this person that eats, drinks, breathes, thinks, forms relationships and has a career? In reported speech, trying to keep as much of your wording as possible, I would say But if there is no such thing as a permanent self or soul, then the obvious question is who this person is that eats, drinks, breathes, thinks, forms relationships and has a career. No question mark is needed, because the reported sentence itself is not a question. Best wishes, Clive   Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,628 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 Question Marks