question of fact
- noun
- Formal
- So, the question of fact is: has responsibility been understood as intrinsic to the moral category of human rights?
- question of fact for the jury
But the semantic question would then be when we ask that question, are we even asking a question of fact at all?
- But the semantic question would then be when we ask that question, are we even asking a question of fact at all?
- I think what I've done in my work in my life is work on trying to understand those kinds of like clear, like questions of fact.
Examples
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Whether an accommodation is reasonable and necessary is a question of fact determined on a case-by-case basis.
Academic text (2017) -
Reasonable accommodations for a person with a mental disability are ordinarily a question of fact and may include modifications to police activities, policies, and training.
Academic text (2017) -
Very good, but first, you understand, there are certain questions of fact.
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It's a simple question of fact.
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So keep in mind that the key question here is, was there a genuine question of fact that should have gone before our jury?
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Furthermore, not all questions of fact are simple.
Academic text (1999) -
When thinking about a situation, advocates must carefully separate questions of fact from value judgments.
Academic text (1993) -
Clearly, these conflicting interpretations of the past are not simply questions of fact, resolvable by more historical research.
Academic text (1992) -
The determination of whether an employee was acting within the scope of employment is a question of fact to be determined by the trier of fact based upon the circumstances of each case.
Blog text (21) -
The jury must determine if there is a genuine question of fact regarding the defendant's actions.
Synonyms
A question about what really happened that the jury must decide
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an issue concerning a factual dispute' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'question' (an issue) with 'fact' (a verifiable truth) in the common noun + of + noun structure. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would understand the core meaning, though the precise legal distinction from a 'question of law' is a domain-specific nuance.
Etymology
Question of fact comes from how courts work: it is the question about what actually happened—the fact—that people such as a jury must look at the evidence to decide. That's why it means an issue about real events for a jury or judge to decide, not a 'question of law'.