Where does the question mark go — inside or outside the parentheses?

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I know that when brackets enclose part of a sentence, the full stop goes outside.

I tripped over this morning. I was distracted by a plane (which turned out to be Superman).

If it’s a full sentence, the full stop goes inside.

I tripped over. (I was distracted by a plane that turned out to be Superman.)

What happens when there’s a question mark and only part of the sentence is a question?

I tripped over this morning. I was distracted by a plane (or was it Superman?)

(or was it Superman?).

(or was it Superman)?

What happens to the full stop that belongs to the rest of the sentence, and why?

Answer

Regarding “What happens when there’s a question mark and only part of the sentence is a question?” and your three suggestions, my opinions are:

  • I was distracted by a plane (or was it Superman?) ‒ Is missing period.
  • I was distracted by a plane (or was it Superman?). ‒ Is ok
  • I was distracted by a plane (or was it Superman)? ‒ Treats whole as question

I don’t have definitive authorities to support the above choices. I have seen only three webpages that even remotely address your question:

  • englishplus says

    In a sentence containing a parenthetical expression, any punctuation belonging to the main sentence goes outside the parentheses.

  • wowwritingworkshop says

    A sentence in parentheses within another sentence does not take a period, because the period is reserved for the main sentence (questions and exclamations, however, must have their respective marks!).

  • brians at public.wsu.edu says

    Normally a sentence’s final punctuation mark—whether period, exclamation point, or question mark—goes outside such a parenthesis (like this). However, if the material inside the parenthesis requires a concluding punctuation mark like an exclamation point or question mark (but not a period!), that mark is placed inside the closing mark even though another mark is outside it. This latter sort of thing is awkward, however, and best avoided if you can help it.

Note, rather than using parentheses I would word the sentence as

I was distracted by a plane; or was it Superman?

Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Lunivore , Answer Author : James Waldby – jwpat7

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