Writing Tip 158: I Wonder About Punctuation?

This seal wonders why there’s a camera pointing at him. Maybe he would wonder at this shape we call a question mark.

Punctuation around the word “wonder” seems to commonly baffle writers. I wonder what the source of this is? (See what I just did there? It’s wrong. Did you catch it?)

Reminder: just because something raises a question does not mean that it is a question. Think long and hard about that question mark.

Statements that begin “I/she/he wonders…” are most commonly just that. Statements. There is no question about whether or not the subject wonders.

For example:

I wonder why the sky is blue.
She wonders whether the premise of Mr. Popper’s Penguins is attainable with her refrigerator.
He wonders if it would work with a pet seal if the fridge was big enough.

Do you see how all of these are sentences bring up questions, but none of these sentences are questions themselves. Ergo, no question mark is needed. A plain old period is the perfect punctuation.

As an editor, I see this mistake again and again. Please be careful. When someone wonders, let them ponder the mysteries of the universe, let them speculate and deliberate, but don’t let the question return to your comprehension of proper punctuation.

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