What is the correct usage of “the question of …”












3















I am currently writing my thesis, which addresses the question of how to do X. However, I am not sure whether the usage of "the question of ..." is correct. I found the following expressions while searching the web:




  1. This thesis addresses the question of how to do X.

  2. This thesis addresses the question how to do X.

  3. This thesis addresses the question as to how to do X.


Can someone tell which one is correct (and why)?



I also sometimes use the expression "the question of whether X is true". Do the same rules apply?



Thank you,
Dan






grammar syntactic-analysis questions sentence-patterns







share|improve this question

























  • I prefer 1, but 2 can work with punctuation. "This thesis addresses the question: how to do X."

    – GEdgar
    Mar 7 '15 at 22:07
















3















I am currently writing my thesis, which addresses the question of how to do X. However, I am not sure whether the usage of "the question of ..." is correct. I found the following expressions while searching the web:




  1. This thesis addresses the question of how to do X.

  2. This thesis addresses the question how to do X.

  3. This thesis addresses the question as to how to do X.


Can someone tell which one is correct (and why)?



I also sometimes use the expression "the question of whether X is true". Do the same rules apply?



Thank you,
Dan






grammar syntactic-analysis questions sentence-patterns







share|improve this question

























  • I prefer 1, but 2 can work with punctuation. "This thesis addresses the question: how to do X."

    – GEdgar
    Mar 7 '15 at 22:07














3












3








3


2






I am currently writing my thesis, which addresses the question of how to do X. However, I am not sure whether the usage of "the question of ..." is correct. I found the following expressions while searching the web:




  1. This thesis addresses the question of how to do X.

  2. This thesis addresses the question how to do X.

  3. This thesis addresses the question as to how to do X.


Can someone tell which one is correct (and why)?



I also sometimes use the expression "the question of whether X is true". Do the same rules apply?



Thank you,
Dan






grammar syntactic-analysis questions sentence-patterns







share|improve this question
















I am currently writing my thesis, which addresses the question of how to do X. However, I am not sure whether the usage of "the question of ..." is correct. I found the following expressions while searching the web:




  1. This thesis addresses the question of how to do X.

  2. This thesis addresses the question how to do X.

  3. This thesis addresses the question as to how to do X.


Can someone tell which one is correct (and why)?



I also sometimes use the expression "the question of whether X is true". Do the same rules apply?



Thank you,
Dan






grammar syntactic-analysis questions sentence-patterns




grammar syntactic-analysis questions sentence-patterns






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Jan 8 at 21:49









Sven Yargs

111k19239495




111k19239495










asked Jul 21 '14 at 7:44









DanDan

148238




148238













  • I prefer 1, but 2 can work with punctuation. "This thesis addresses the question: how to do X."

    – GEdgar
    Mar 7 '15 at 22:07



















  • I prefer 1, but 2 can work with punctuation. "This thesis addresses the question: how to do X."

    – GEdgar
    Mar 7 '15 at 22:07

















I prefer 1, but 2 can work with punctuation. "This thesis addresses the question: how to do X."

– GEdgar
Mar 7 '15 at 22:07





I prefer 1, but 2 can work with punctuation. "This thesis addresses the question: how to do X."

– GEdgar
Mar 7 '15 at 22:07










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















3














My subjective impression is that "the question of how to do X" sounds more natural than "the question as to how to do X." An Ngram chart of the phrases "question of how" (blue line) and "question as to how" (red line) for the years 1800 through 2007 suggests that this was not always the case, but that during the twentieth century popular usage gravitated strongly toward the former:





I didn't include the phrase "question how" in this first chart because it would introduce many matches that weren't structured similarly to the other two phrases of interest. However adding definite articles to the three phrases yields an interesting chart for "the question of how" (blue line), "the question as to how" (red line), and "the question how" (green line):





I don't see any syntactical reason to prefer one form over the other two; but the preference in published writing for "the question of how to do X" seems to be meaningfully large and therefore may be a legitimate consideration if you are trying to use the most common form of the expression.



One further option arises from the fact that constructions of the form "the question how to do X" are often framed as actual questions embedded in the larger sentence, by adding a comma after the word question, altering the included verb as needed, and adding a question mark at the end of the sentence, as indicated here:




This thesis addresses the question, how does one do X?




and here:




This thesis addresses the question, How does one do X?




In such instances, the decision about whether to capitalize how is a matter of stylistic preference.



I believe that the same general analysis would apply to expressions of the form "the question of whether X is true."






share|improve this answer

































    1














    As an advocate of plain and concise English, I suggest




    This thesis addresses how to do X.







    share|improve this answer
























    • A really good thesis would surely answer the question not just address it, but if you have no answer plain and concise English must be better than circumlocution.

      – JeremyC
      Jan 8 at 22:33











    Your Answer








    StackExchange.ready(function() {
    var channelOptions = {
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "97"
    };
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
    createEditor();
    });
    }
    else {
    createEditor();
    }
    });

    function createEditor() {
    StackExchange.prepareEditor({
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: false,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: null,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader: {
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    },
    noCode: true, onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    });


    }
    });














    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function () {
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f186173%2fwhat-is-the-correct-usage-of-the-question-of%23new-answer', 'question_page');
    }
    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes








    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    3














    My subjective impression is that "the question of how to do X" sounds more natural than "the question as to how to do X." An Ngram chart of the phrases "question of how" (blue line) and "question as to how" (red line) for the years 1800 through 2007 suggests that this was not always the case, but that during the twentieth century popular usage gravitated strongly toward the former:





    I didn't include the phrase "question how" in this first chart because it would introduce many matches that weren't structured similarly to the other two phrases of interest. However adding definite articles to the three phrases yields an interesting chart for "the question of how" (blue line), "the question as to how" (red line), and "the question how" (green line):





    I don't see any syntactical reason to prefer one form over the other two; but the preference in published writing for "the question of how to do X" seems to be meaningfully large and therefore may be a legitimate consideration if you are trying to use the most common form of the expression.



    One further option arises from the fact that constructions of the form "the question how to do X" are often framed as actual questions embedded in the larger sentence, by adding a comma after the word question, altering the included verb as needed, and adding a question mark at the end of the sentence, as indicated here:




    This thesis addresses the question, how does one do X?




    and here:




    This thesis addresses the question, How does one do X?




    In such instances, the decision about whether to capitalize how is a matter of stylistic preference.



    I believe that the same general analysis would apply to expressions of the form "the question of whether X is true."






    share|improve this answer






























      3














      My subjective impression is that "the question of how to do X" sounds more natural than "the question as to how to do X." An Ngram chart of the phrases "question of how" (blue line) and "question as to how" (red line) for the years 1800 through 2007 suggests that this was not always the case, but that during the twentieth century popular usage gravitated strongly toward the former:





      I didn't include the phrase "question how" in this first chart because it would introduce many matches that weren't structured similarly to the other two phrases of interest. However adding definite articles to the three phrases yields an interesting chart for "the question of how" (blue line), "the question as to how" (red line), and "the question how" (green line):





      I don't see any syntactical reason to prefer one form over the other two; but the preference in published writing for "the question of how to do X" seems to be meaningfully large and therefore may be a legitimate consideration if you are trying to use the most common form of the expression.



      One further option arises from the fact that constructions of the form "the question how to do X" are often framed as actual questions embedded in the larger sentence, by adding a comma after the word question, altering the included verb as needed, and adding a question mark at the end of the sentence, as indicated here:




      This thesis addresses the question, how does one do X?




      and here:




      This thesis addresses the question, How does one do X?




      In such instances, the decision about whether to capitalize how is a matter of stylistic preference.



      I believe that the same general analysis would apply to expressions of the form "the question of whether X is true."






      share|improve this answer




























        3












        3








        3







        My subjective impression is that "the question of how to do X" sounds more natural than "the question as to how to do X." An Ngram chart of the phrases "question of how" (blue line) and "question as to how" (red line) for the years 1800 through 2007 suggests that this was not always the case, but that during the twentieth century popular usage gravitated strongly toward the former:





        I didn't include the phrase "question how" in this first chart because it would introduce many matches that weren't structured similarly to the other two phrases of interest. However adding definite articles to the three phrases yields an interesting chart for "the question of how" (blue line), "the question as to how" (red line), and "the question how" (green line):





        I don't see any syntactical reason to prefer one form over the other two; but the preference in published writing for "the question of how to do X" seems to be meaningfully large and therefore may be a legitimate consideration if you are trying to use the most common form of the expression.



        One further option arises from the fact that constructions of the form "the question how to do X" are often framed as actual questions embedded in the larger sentence, by adding a comma after the word question, altering the included verb as needed, and adding a question mark at the end of the sentence, as indicated here:




        This thesis addresses the question, how does one do X?




        and here:




        This thesis addresses the question, How does one do X?




        In such instances, the decision about whether to capitalize how is a matter of stylistic preference.



        I believe that the same general analysis would apply to expressions of the form "the question of whether X is true."






        share|improve this answer















        My subjective impression is that "the question of how to do X" sounds more natural than "the question as to how to do X." An Ngram chart of the phrases "question of how" (blue line) and "question as to how" (red line) for the years 1800 through 2007 suggests that this was not always the case, but that during the twentieth century popular usage gravitated strongly toward the former:





        I didn't include the phrase "question how" in this first chart because it would introduce many matches that weren't structured similarly to the other two phrases of interest. However adding definite articles to the three phrases yields an interesting chart for "the question of how" (blue line), "the question as to how" (red line), and "the question how" (green line):





        I don't see any syntactical reason to prefer one form over the other two; but the preference in published writing for "the question of how to do X" seems to be meaningfully large and therefore may be a legitimate consideration if you are trying to use the most common form of the expression.



        One further option arises from the fact that constructions of the form "the question how to do X" are often framed as actual questions embedded in the larger sentence, by adding a comma after the word question, altering the included verb as needed, and adding a question mark at the end of the sentence, as indicated here:




        This thesis addresses the question, how does one do X?




        and here:




        This thesis addresses the question, How does one do X?




        In such instances, the decision about whether to capitalize how is a matter of stylistic preference.



        I believe that the same general analysis would apply to expressions of the form "the question of whether X is true."







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited Jan 8 at 21:48

























        answered Jan 6 '15 at 20:19









        Sven YargsSven Yargs

        111k19239495




        111k19239495

























            1














            As an advocate of plain and concise English, I suggest




            This thesis addresses how to do X.







            share|improve this answer
























            • A really good thesis would surely answer the question not just address it, but if you have no answer plain and concise English must be better than circumlocution.

              – JeremyC
              Jan 8 at 22:33
















            1














            As an advocate of plain and concise English, I suggest




            This thesis addresses how to do X.







            share|improve this answer
























            • A really good thesis would surely answer the question not just address it, but if you have no answer plain and concise English must be better than circumlocution.

              – JeremyC
              Jan 8 at 22:33














            1












            1








            1







            As an advocate of plain and concise English, I suggest




            This thesis addresses how to do X.







            share|improve this answer













            As an advocate of plain and concise English, I suggest




            This thesis addresses how to do X.








            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered Dec 5 '16 at 8:56









            Kumāra BhikkhuKumāra Bhikkhu

            6111




            6111













            • A really good thesis would surely answer the question not just address it, but if you have no answer plain and concise English must be better than circumlocution.

              – JeremyC
              Jan 8 at 22:33



















            • A really good thesis would surely answer the question not just address it, but if you have no answer plain and concise English must be better than circumlocution.

              – JeremyC
              Jan 8 at 22:33

















            A really good thesis would surely answer the question not just address it, but if you have no answer plain and concise English must be better than circumlocution.

            – JeremyC
            Jan 8 at 22:33





            A really good thesis would surely answer the question not just address it, but if you have no answer plain and concise English must be better than circumlocution.

            – JeremyC
            Jan 8 at 22:33


















            draft saved

            draft discarded




















































            Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid …



            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f186173%2fwhat-is-the-correct-usage-of-the-question-of%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            -

            Popular posts from this blog

            Paul Cézanne

            Image
            Pour l’article ayant un titre homophone, voir Sézanne. Paul Cézanne.mw-parser-output .entete.artiste{background-image:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Picto_infobox_artiste.png")} Autoportrait vers 1861 Naissance 19 janvier 1839 Aix-en-Provence (France) Décès 22 octobre 1906 (à 67 ans) Aix-en-Provence (France) Nationalité Française Activité Peintre Formation Académie de Charles Suisse Maître Joseph Gilbert, Antoine Guillemet, Camille Pissarro Mouvement Impressionnisme postimpressionnisme Influencé par Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, Véronèse A influencé Braque, Picasso, Matisse Conjoint Hortense Fiquet (depuis 1886) Enfant Paul Cézanne  ( d ) Œuvres principales La Montagne Sainte-Victoire, Portrait de madame Cézanne signature modifier - modifier le code - modifier Wikidata Paul Cézanne , né le 19 janvier 1839 à Aix-en-Provence et mort le 22 octobre 1906 dans la mê...
            Read more

            UIScrollView CustomStickyHeader Resize height generates problems when scroll is too fast

            Image
            0 I have been trying for a while to create a UIViewController that has a CustomStickyHeader and a UITableView. The idea I have been following is use the UITableView scrolling for changing the header view with the value of the contentOffset. The layout for the ViewController (AlbumsViewController) looks like: The UItableView Scrolling functions from the delegate are implemented like that: func scrollViewDidScroll(_ scrollView: UIScrollView) { let endReached = contentTableView.contentOffset.y >= (contentTableView.contentSize.height - contentTableView.frame.size.height) let isUP = lastContentOffset > scrollView.contentOffset.y if scrollView.contentOffset.y < 0 { headerHeightConstraint.constant += abs(scrollView.contentOffset.y) } else{ if !endReached{ ...
            Read more

            Angular material date-picker (MatDatepicker) auto completes the date on focus out

            Image
            3 3 I am using angular material/mat-datepicker in my project and whenever the user enters one digit inside of it, and goes out of focus - the date picker is auto completing with a random date. Example Just enter 1 and go out of focus, or enter 5/5/20 The date picker is adding date automatically Update : Also I am using reactive forms and I'm validating the input with that approach Can I disable this ? angular datepicker angular-material angular6 angular-material-datetimepicker share | improve this question edited Nov 20 '18 at 13:21 ...
            Read more