Question Mark When Opening Phrase Asks Its Own Question
The Question Mark
Rulebase Summary
Speakers often blend an embedded-question frame ('Can you tell me,' 'Do you remember') with direct-question word order in the second half ('do you have' instead of 'you have'), producing a muddled single utterance.
The common reporter approach is to transcribe verbatim — one question, one interrog at the end — reflecting the speaker's single breath and rising inflection.
Margie's Interrog.14 offers a grammar-based alternative: split into two questions with an interrog after each ('Do you recall? Was he alone?'). The split reads naturally when the opening was delivered as a distinct standalone beat.
Both are defensible; intonation and house style decide. Avoid a single comma between the two parts — that's a comma splice between two complete questions.
Examples
Q. Can you tell me, when did you arrive at the scene?
Q. Can you tell me when did you arrive at the scene?
Speaker ran it together in one breath — render as one question with one interrog at the end. The comma is the one rendering to avoid (comma splice). Margie's Interrog.14 alternative splits into two ('Can you tell me? When did you arrive at the scene?') when the opening was delivered as a distinct standalone beat.
Q. Do you recall, was he alone after the incident?
Q. Do you recall? Was he alone after the incident?
Attorney delivers 'Do you recall?' as a standalone memory-check beat, then the direct question. The split reads naturally here. If it flowed together as one breath, collapse to one interrog at the end.
Q. Do you remember, what was the name of the street?
Q. Do you remember what was the name of the street?
Verbatim rendering of a single run-together utterance — one interrog at the end. Margie's Interrog.14 split ('Do you remember? What was the name of the street?') is an alternative when the delivery supports it.
Transcript Notes
Listen for inflection. Flow-through delivery (one breath, one rising inflection at the end) — render as one question with one interrog at the end. Standalone delivery of the opening (distinct beat, two rising inflections) — split into two interrogs per Margie's Interrog.14. Reporter preference and house style settle ambiguous cases. The comma-splice rendering is wrong under either approach.
Style Guide References (1)
BGGP