if you want to ask a question, ask the question.
and stop where you would put a question mark.
don't give me an "easy out":
how much got done yesterday? i know a few people are off so it might not have been a lot.
my answer was going to be "we did a lot yesterday", but now i'm filled with questions.
instead of "we did a lot yesterday", i have to say "oh actually we did a lot yesterday, even though a few people were off".
it's worse if my response was going to be "not a lot got done, because of <some unrelated problem>". now i have to say "not a lot got done, but not because people were off, because of <some unrelated problem>". i have to undo the easy out.
just ask the dang question.
P.S. if the stakes are low and you don't want to interrupt someone, an easy out is fine:
which bit of code validates usernames? if you don't know don't worry, i can go looking for it