A question can be a statement with a question mark at the end?

Question

Or not?

Answer 1

Yes.

The reader decodes it by mentally 'reading it aloud', and thus supplies appropriate stresses or inflections which turn it (retrospectively) into a question.

e.g.

A clear statement:

'Grinner, C-3PO, a can of WD40 and a moonlit night is just asking for trouble.'

When repunctuated as:

'Grinner, C-3PO, a can of WD40 and a moonlit night is just asking for trouble?'

Is mentally decoded as a question despite its lack of 'wh-movement' (as cunning linguists call it).

Your own example (above) becomes a question by the stressing of the word 'can' or by adding a rising inflection to the end of the sentence.

Notice that such 'questions' need to be read twice, as the lack of 'wh-movement' means the brain is not cued to expect a question.



But more importantly, stop when the WD40 runs out, sparks can be a fire hazard.

Answer 2

A question can be phrased in the form of a statement with literary license, when the traditional wording is implied, like: "A question mark can be a statement with a question mark at the end?" is interpreted as "Can a question be stated as a declarative with a question mark at the end?"

Another variation is a direct question, which is actually an imperative. It's stated in the form of a question, with a question mark at the end, but it's just a command phrased that way to appear polite, like: "Will you please close the door to keep out the drafts?" If the person doesn't close the door, they're going to get yelled at, because it isn't really a request, it's an order. It's a direct question.

Answer 3

What you mean is a 'rhetorical question', where the question is posed as a statement but does not expect an answer. For example if you were giving a speech about 'Climate Change' you could explain the problems faced by the world and then say 'So what can we do about it?' You would then continue by telling the audience what your solution would be.

Another way would be to deliver your statement and end it with 'Isn't it?' or 'can't we?' or something similar. For example you may say.

"Thank you for listening to my presentation and I truly believe that the answer to the problem is in our own hands, isn't it?"

Answer 4

Certainly can. The moon is a balloon? Though you must get the pronunciation of balloon right, or else there may be a degree of confusion.
I've actually invented a variant:-

?why is the moon a balloon.
This is actually a statement because I have placed a question mark at the start.

Answer 5

It's not grammatically correct to do so, but you can get away with doing it because most people will still understand what you're trying to ask.

Like your "question" is just a statement w/ a "?" at the end. But we understand that you're trying to ask whether or not that's correct. To make your statement/question a grammatically correct question, just add the word "Can" at the very beginning.

Answer 6

yes a question mark turns a statement into a question.

Answer 7

A question mark is used to show that a statement is a question.

I think.

Actually, I don't really understand your question. Or was it a statement?

Answer 8

a question cannot be a statement unless its a retoricle question
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Answer 9

Yes, and the french have it even easier by slapping est-ce-que in front of it.
Est-ce-que a question can be a statement ?

Answer 10

Usually the sentence is structured differently with a possible adverb like WHY or HOW at the beginning, but not always.