Why not periods? Why doesn’t every sentence in Spanish that isn’t a question or exclamation start with a period floating in the sky?

  • Nougat@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    7 months ago

    “How would I find out?”

    I can tell you.

    I can tell you?

    Yes, English uses word order to define grammar in many more sentences than Spanish, but not exclusively.

    • Lvxferre@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      edit-2
      7 months ago

      I can tell you?

      Dunno for others but for me this question sounds rhetorical, due to the lack of inversion. By default you expect questions in English to start with an optional interrogative pronoun, plus a [typically auxiliary] verb - “can I tell you?”, “do you know him?”, “how do you know this?” et cetera.