Capital Letters and Punctuation

What you’ll learn

Use capitals, full stops, question marks, and apostrophes in simple sentences.

ប្រើអក្សរធំ និងសញ្ញាវណ្ណយុត្តមូលដ្ឋានក្នុងប្រយោគខ្លី។

Meaning and use

Start a sentence with a capital letter. Always capitalize the pronoun I and proper names such as Dara, Cambodia, and English. Days and months also start with capitals. End a statement with a full stop (period) and a direct question with a question mark. An exclamation mark can show a strong feeling. Apostrophes appear in contractions and possessive forms; they do not normally make a noun plural.

ចាប់ផ្តើមប្រយោគដោយអក្សរធំ។ ពាក្យ I និងឈ្មោះមនុស្ស ប្រទេស ភាសា ថ្ងៃ និងខែ ត្រូវចាប់ផ្តើមដោយអក្សរធំ។ ប្រយោគប្រាប់បញ្ចប់ដោយសញ្ញាចុច ហើយប្រយោគសំណួរបញ្ចប់ដោយសញ្ញាសួរ។ កុំបន្ថែមសញ្ញា apostrophe ដើម្បីបង្កើតនាមពហុវចនៈធម្មតា។

Grammar patterns

Pattern	Example or form
Start a statement with a capital; finish with a full stop	I live in Cambodia.
End a direct question with a question mark	Are you ready?
Use capitals for names, languages, days, and months	Dara speaks English on Monday.
Contraction: missing letters are marked by an apostrophe	I am → I’m

Examples

1. My name is Dara.

   ខ្ញុំឈ្មោះដារ៉ា។

2. I speak English.

   ខ្ញុំនិយាយភាសាអង់គ្លេស។

3. Are you a student?

   តើអ្នកជាសិស្សមែនទេ?

4. We have two books.

   យើងមានសៀវភៅពីរក្បាល។

Everyday conversation

Maly: What is your name?

Dara: My name is Dara.

Maly: Are you from Cambodia?

Dara: Yes, I am.

Common mistakes

Instead of	Use	Why
i speak english.	I speak English.	Capitalize I and the language name English.
I have two book’s.	I have two books.	Add -s without an apostrophe for the regular plural books.

Practice

Try these questions before opening the answers. Write or say each answer.

សាកល្បងឆ្លើយសំណួរទាំងនេះជាមុនសិន មុននឹងបើកមើលចម្លើយ។ អ្នកអាចសរសេរ ឬនិយាយចម្លើយរបស់អ្នក។

1. Correct the capitals: dara lives in cambodia.
2. Choose the ending: Are you ready. / Are you ready?
3. Complete: one pen, two ___ (pens / pen’s).

Answers and explanations

Show answers / បង្ហាញចម្លើយ

1. Dara lives in Cambodia.

   Dara and Cambodia are proper names; the sentence also starts with a capital.

2. Are you ready?

   A direct question takes a question mark.

3. pens

   A regular plural does not need an apostrophe.

Quick recap

• Capitalize the first word, I, and proper names.
• Use a full stop for a statement and a question mark for a direct question.
• Ordinary plural nouns do not use an apostrophe.