Questions marks

Question

¿Why is there a question mark at the start of the question and the end of it in Spanish?

Answer 1

Well I'm just gonna make a guess about this cause I never read about it, but I think the reason is because when asking a question you change your tone you modify the pronunciation.
In English:
You have a question to do? - I'm not sure but I think this is wrong.
Have you a question to do? and Do you have a question? seems right to me.
So when reading this you can notice in the begining of the sentence that is a question and then you'll change your tone.

In Spanish we dont have a special word to start a question and we don't swap the verb with the pronoun.
So when reading "Tienes una pregunta para hacer?" we won't be able to know this sentence is a question till we finish reading it.
So I think that's the reason why we use a question mark in the begining.

Thanks that makes lots of sense now! - David_93, Jun 4, 2013

Answer 2

Good question!!!!!

Answer 3

Because it indicates a question in spanish. You, use one in english, at the end of each question. In spanish you use one before and after the stated question.

Example:

where are you from?

¿ De donde eres ?

Also the tone of your voice rises when asking a question in the beginning and your voice falls or lowers at the end of the question.

Hope this helps.

¡Hola Chellapadue! In your example, since it is a question, shouldn't "donde" be spelled with a tilde? Like this: "dónde". - Esteban3304, Jun 5, 2013