Slovene Punctuation - Question Mark

Question Mark

Syntactical Use

A question mark (?) is a left-leaning punctuation mark. It is used in single clause sentences and in compound sentences in which the independent clause expresses enquiries.

• Si res želiš, Ana, dobiti enojko? (Do you, Ana, really wish to get a one (the worst grade at school)?)
• Tukaj? (Here?)
• Oh, kaj res? (Oh, really? (in a bored tone))
• Rok, kam greš? (Rok, whither are you going? (normally, the English would say 'Where', but it is important to distinguish between whither (kam) and where (kje) in Slovene))
• Pogovarjali smo se, bilo je zelo zanimivo, potem pa je Luka nenadoma rekel – uganeš kaj? (We had been talking, it had been very interesting, but then Luka suddenly said – guess what?)
• "Je to res, Urša?" je zavpil professor. ("Is this true, Urša?" shouted the professor.)

When a question without a question word or with ali, or with ?? or ?! is articulated, the pitch is anticadent, thus increased towards the end of such a sentence. Otherwise, the pitch is cadent, thus decreased towards the end of such a sentence.

If the independent clause of a sentence is not interrogative, the sentence ends with a full stop or an exclamation mark. This is similar to reported speech in English.

• Vprašali so me, če grem peš ali s taksijem. (They asked me if I should walk or go by taxi.)
• O čem se gre predstava, tega pač ne vem. (What the performance is about, that I just don't know. (with the implied meaning that the original question is stupid, for how am I to know?))

After a colon, the clause keeps its own punctuation mark.

• Čigav je že izrek: Užij dan. (Whose is, again, the saying, Seize the day?)
  • This sentence can also be written as "Čigav je že izrek Užij dan?" or "Čigav je že izrek 'Užij dan'?".

A question mark need not be a sentence terminating punctuation mark; it may be used in inserted sentences.

• Govorim o hibridizaciji sp² – to veš, kaj je? – ogljikovega atoma v tej organski molekuli. (I am talking about the sp² hybridisation – do you know what this is? – of the carbon atom in this organic molecule.)

In certain cases, the question mark may be doubled (for emphasis of a repeated question), or it may be combined with an exclamation mark in emphatic and emotional contexts.

• Kako narediš to? Kako?? (How do you do this? How??)
• Le kako si lahko dovoliš kaj takega?! (However can you allow yourself something like that?!)

Non-Syntactical Use

A question mark can be used non-syntactically if it denotes doubt.

• Dejali so, da se je nafta (?) razlila. (They have said that oil (?) has spilt.) (the speaker is not certain whether it was oil or something else, or perhaps if this is indeed how the word is spelt)