siSwati Home Language - Term 3 - Week 5

Punctuation marks are important in writing because they help us understand the meaning of sentences. In siSwati, we use full stops, commas, and question marks. A full stop (.) tells us that a sentence has ended, a comma (,) helps us list items or pause in a sentence, and a question mark (?) shows that a sentence is asking something. Today, we will learn how to use these punctuation marks correctly.

Let’s look at the following sentence: 'Ngiyathanda ukudla pizza' (I love eating pizza). This sentence is correct, but if we want to ask a question, we can change it to 'Ngiyathanda ukudla pizza?' (Do I love eating pizza?). Notice how the question mark changes the meaning. Now, let’s add a comma to the list: 'Ngiyathanda ukudla, pizza, ne ice cream' (I love eating pizza and ice cream). The comma helps separate the items in the list.

Now, let’s practice together. I will give you a few words: 'umntwana', 'bala', 'incwadi'. Can you help me make a sentence? Remember to use a full stop at the end. Students might say, 'Umntwana ubala incwadi.' (The child reads a book.) Great job! Let’s try another one with a question: 'Uphi umntwana?' (Where is the child?) Make sure to use the question mark.

Now it’s your turn! I will give you a short paragraph with some mistakes. Your task is to find and correct the punctuation errors. Here is the paragraph: 'Ngiyathanda ukudla isinkwa, ubhontshisi, ne, amakhukhu. Ngiyaphila' (I love eating bread, beans, and, cakes. I am fine). Remember to check for full stops and commas. After you finish, write your corrected version on a clean sheet of paper.

• ?
• .
• ,

Answer: .

A full stop (.) is used to indicate the end of a statement.

• Ngiyathanda, ukudla pizza.
• Ngiyathanda ukudla pizza.
• Ngiyathanda ukudla pizza?

Answer: Ngiyathanda ukudla pizza.

This sentence is correct as it does not require a comma or question mark.

Answer: To indicate that a sentence is asking something.

A question mark (?) shows that the sentence is a question.

• Ngiyathanda ukudla.
• Ngiyathanda, ukudla, ne, amakhukhu.
• Ngiyathanda?

Answer: Ngiyathanda, ukudla, ne, amakhukhu.

This sentence uses commas to separate items in a list.

Answer: Ngiyafunda incwadi.

This sentence correctly ends with a full stop.

• .
• ,
• ?

Answer: ,

Commas (,) are used to separate items in a list.

Answer: Ngiyathanda ukudla ice cream.

Remove the comma before 'ukudla' for correct punctuation.

• Ngiyaphila.
• Uphi umntwana?
• Ngiyathanda.

Answer: Uphi umntwana?

This sentence ends with a question mark, indicating it is a question.