Why do exclamation and question marks go at the beginning and at the end in Spanish?

MADRID – We got the question in the headline some time back - our answer at the time was, "'Cos they just are!", which was neither polite nor elucidating. While our answer may be right and factual, there is a correct usage. According to the Real Academia de la Lengua Española (The Royal Academy of the Spanish language), question (¿?) and exclamation (¡!) marks represent speech expressions in writing with appropriate intonations for questions and exclamations respectively. In Spanish, they are called double marks, opening and closing a phrase and are obligatory, although there are a few exceptions. Some correct usage indications are:

a)   Opening marks (¿ ¡) are characteristic of the Spanish language and should not be eliminated in imitation of other languages using only the closing marks). NOT CORRECT Qué hora es? Qué alegría verte! CORRECT ¿Qué hora es? ¡Qué alegría verte! (What’s the time? I’m very happy to see you!)

b)   Both marks are written right next to the first and last letters of a phrase, and separated by a single space from words that precede or follow them. If what follows the closing mark, however, is another punctuation mark, the space is eliminated: Vamos a ver... ¡Caramba!, ¿son ya las tres?; se me ha hecho tardísimo. (Let’s see … Good heavens! Is it three already? I’m very late! NOTE: you would not do the same in English, where two or more marks following each other are not allowed.)

c)   Any other punctuation mark can follow a closing exclamation or question mark, except a full stop. Obviously, when a question or exclamation mark ends a phrase or sentence, these mark the end of the statement, and therefore must be followed by a capital letter. No he conseguido el trabajo. ¡Qué le vamos a hacer! Otra vez será. (I didn't get the job. What can you do! Next time …)

d)   The opening marks (¿¡) must be placed exactly where the question or exclamation begin even when they do not belong to the beginning of the statement; and must begin with a lower case letter: Por lo demás, ¿qué aspecto tenía tu hermano? (As to the rest, how was your brother looking?). Si encuentras trabajo, ¡qué celebración vamos a hacer! (If you find a job, how we’re going to celebrate!)

These are just a few directions offered by the Real Academia. Being a language academy, there are many more … You can find them here: www.rae.es