¿Podría usted decirme si falta el signo de interrogación al final de la pregunta?

Because in Spanish, all direct questions must be marked with two question marks:

• an opening one: ¿
• a closing one: ?

So even if the sentence is asking whether the final question mark is missing, the whole sentence is still a direct question and must begin with ¿.

Podría usted is more polite and less direct than puede usted.

• ¿Puede usted decirme…? = Can you tell me…?
• ¿Podría usted decirme…? = Could you tell me…?

In Spanish, as in English, using could often sounds more courteous than can. This sentence is using a formal, polite tone.

Yes, podría already shows the usted form, so usted is not grammatically necessary.

However, Spanish often includes usted for:

• extra formality
• emphasis
• clarity

So both are possible:

• ¿Podría decirme si falta…?
• ¿Podría usted decirme si falta…?

The version with usted sounds a bit more formal.

Because me is an object pronoun, and with an infinitive like decir, Spanish allows the pronoun to be attached to the end:

• decirme = to tell me

This is very common after another conjugated verb:

• ¿Puede decirme…?
• ¿Quiere explicarme…?
• Voy a mostrarte…

You could also sometimes place the pronoun before the first verb in other structures, but here decirme is the natural choice.

Here si means whether or if in an indirect question.

So:

• si falta… = whether … is missing / if … is missing

This is not the conditional if used in sentences like If it rains, I’ll stay home. It introduces an embedded yes/no question:

• Could you tell me if/whether the question mark is missing…?

Falta is the verb, and the subject comes after it:

• falta el signo de interrogación = the question mark is missing

In Spanish, it is very normal for the verb to come before the subject, especially in questions and in sentences like this.

So the structure is basically:

• falta = is missing
• el signo de interrogación = the question mark

Spanish often uses the definite article where English might not, especially when referring to something specific and already understood from context.

Here:

• de la pregunta = of the question

It refers to the specific question being discussed. This sounds completely natural in Spanish.

Because the standard expression is al final de…, meaning at the end of….

• al = contraction of a + el
• al final de la pregunta = at the end of the question

Using en el final is usually not the natural choice here.

Because the sentence is referring specifically to the one at the end:

• el signo de interrogación al final de la pregunta

That means the closing question mark. Even though Spanish questions normally have both ¿ and ?, this sentence is asking only about the final one.

Yes, but signo de interrogación is clear and standard.

Depending on context, people might also say:

• interrogación
• signo de cierre de interrogación for extra precision
• sometimes more loosely el interrogante

But el signo de interrogación is perfectly correct and easy to understand.

Because si here introduces an indirect yes/no question, and Spanish normally uses the indicative after this kind of si.

So:

• si falta = correct

The subjunctive is not used here because the speaker is asking about a factual possibility: whether the mark is missing or not.

It is natural, but definitely formal.

In Spain, a more everyday version might be:

• ¿Podrías decirme si falta el signo de interrogación al final de la pregunta?

That uses tú instead of usted and sounds more conversational.

The original sentence would fit:

• formal writing
• speaking to someone you do not know well
• customer service or academic contexts

The sentence has two main parts:

1. ¿Podría usted decirme…?
   = Could you tell me…?

2. …si falta el signo de interrogación al final de la pregunta?
   = …whether the question mark is missing at the end of the question?

So it is a direct question containing an indirect question inside it.

• Direct question: ¿Podría usted decirme…?
• Indirect question: si falta el signo de interrogación…

That is why the whole sentence has Spanish question marks, but the embedded part introduced by si does not.