Quoting a question in the middle of a sentence

Writing for Business

Which is correct?
The system administrator’s question was “Will the cost savings of a multi-user environment make up for the difficulty of deploying ____
a. it?”
b. it”?

Answer: a

Explanation:
According to AP style, a question mark is inside quotation marks if that part is the question and outside the quotation marks if the whole sentence is a question. (The same rule applies to exclamation marks and dashes. Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks.)

Grammarbook.com has more information about quotation marks and punctuation.

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Quoting a question in the middle of a sentence
At paragraph 6.42, the 17th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style notes that a direct question is sometimes included within a sentence but not enclosed in quotation marks. When such a question comes in the middle of a sentence, it is usually introduced by a comma, and (this is the new part) it begins with a capital letter. This slight departure from earlier editions of the manual recognizes that such a question is analogous to a direct quotation and can be treated similarly.

{She wondered, What am I doing?}
{Legislators had to be asking themselves, Can the fund be used for the current emergency, or must it remain dedicated to its original purpose?}

If the question ends before the end of the sentence, no comma is required after the question mark (see also 6.125).

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The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition

Quoting a question in the middle of a sentence
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Quoting a question in the middle of a sentence

Top image: Question Mark (Interrogación). Courtesy David Santaolalla.

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Quoting a question in the middle of a sentence

Quoting a question in the middle of a sentence

Quoting a question in the middle of a sentence

How do you quote a question in the middle of a sentence?

If the quoted question ends in the middle of the sentence, the question marks takes the place of a comma. Example: She asked the question, “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” before jumping into the pool.

How do you punctuate a question in the middle of a sentence?

The MLA Style Center.
If a direct question contained in a sentence is long or has internal punctuation, set the question off with a comma and begin it with a capital letter:.
A single question contained in a sentence can also be preceded by a colon as long as the word before the question is not a verb..

Can a question mark be in the middle of a sentence?

She asked if I had a pen she could borrow. The teacher asked how many of us had pets at home. Here only a full stop is used, since the whole sentence is now a statement. The question mark also has one minor use: it may be inserted into the middle of something, inside parentheses, to show that something is uncertain.

How do you continue a sentence with a quote with a question mark?

Rule: The question mark (inside the closing quotation mark) ends the sentence; no period. She kept asking, “Why me?” The question mark (inside the closing quotation mark) ends the sentence; no additional question mark.