¿
Inverted Question Mark
- Unicode
- U+00BF
- Category
- Punctuation
- HTML Entity
- ¿
- CSS
- \00BF
The inverted question mark (¿) is a punctuation symbol primarily used in written Spanish to indicate the beginning of an interrogative sentence or clause. Recommended by the Real Academia Española in the 18th century, it helps readers immediately identify an upcoming question before reaching the end of the phrase. On the broader internet, English speakers occasionally adopt the symbol for stylistic emphasis or to express a quirky, upside-down sense of confusion.
How to Type
- Windows
- Alt+0191
- macOS
- Option+Shift+?
- Linux
- Compose + ? + ?
- HTML
- ¿
In Programming
While not an active operator in mainstream programming languages, developers frequently handle this character when localizing software for Spanish-speaking users. Ensuring proper UTF-8 encoding is essential to prevent the symbol from breaking or turning into a replacement character () in text strings.
Tags
Real Academia Española
Spanish punctuation
Spanish question mark
aesthetic punctuation
confusion symbol
flipped question mark
how to type inverted question mark
interrogative
opening question mark
punctuation
question
spanish question
upside down
upside down question mark