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The question mark in this case doesn't indicate that the sentence is a question. This usage is common but not permitted in formal writing.
by klodolph 4y ago
The question mark in this case doesn't indicate that the sentence is a question. This usage is common but not permitted in formal writing.
- cassianoleal 4y agoYes, I've come across this. It's very confusing for me. Not sure if it's because I'm not a native English speaker or some other reason but it always makes me pause and is not always clear which way it's meant.
- klodolph 4y agoIt’s used to mark a rising declarative. Wikipedia has an article about what it means. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_declarative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_declarative The older generations think that this is “wrong”, so they don’t teach you what it means or how to use it. Just an observation—foreign language education generally teaches a formal version of the language and neglects informal/casual usage. This is normal. The problem is that informal/casual usage today becomes formal usage in the future, as language changes. Just as an example, if you take a Japanese class, they’ll probably teach you 「おはようございむす」 but not 「おっす」 (good morning), 「ありがとう」 but not 「サンキュー」 (thank you), and teach you to say 「無理」 when you should say 「難しい」 (impossible).
- rjmorris 4y agoI'm a native English speaker, and it's confusing for me sometimes, too. I've had to ask multiple times whether someone was expecting an answer from me when they used this construct.