INTRODUCTION
Punctuation marks are marks used in writing sentences to separate ideas or elements in order to clarify meaning. Fortunately, punctuation marks are not that different in Nepali, except the full stop which is represented by a horizontal slash. Punctuation marks are called ‘विराम चिन्ह’ (virām cinha) in Nepali.
TABLE OF PUNCTUATION MARKS
| Name | Nepali Form | Nepali Name | English Form |
| Full stop; Period | । | पूर्णविराम (pūrṇavirām) | . |
| Comma | , | अल्पविराम (alpavirām) | , |
| Semicolon | ; | प्रश्न चिन्ह (praśna cinha) | ; |
| Question Mark | ? | विस्मयादिबोधक (vismayādibōdhak) | ? |
| Exclamation Mark | ! | अवतरण चिन्ह (awataraṇ cinha) | ! |
| Brackets | ( ) | कोष्ठक चिन्ह (kōṣṭhak cinha) | ( ) |
| Quotation Marks | ” “ | अवतरण चिन्ह (awataraṇ cinha) | ” “ |
| Dash | — | निर्देशक चिन्ह (nirdeśak cinha) | — |
| Hyphen | – | योजक चिन्ह (yojak cinha) | – |
EXERCISE
ADD NEPALI PUNCTUATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES
1. We had a good time in Kathmandu
2. She said You must go to bed
3. What are you doing next weekend
4. This exercise is very cheeky
5. Oh no I can’t solve these questions
ANSWERS
1. We had a good time in Kathmandu।
2. She said, “You must go to bed।”
3. What are you doing next weekend?
4. This exercise is very cheeky।
5. Oh no! I can’t solve these questions!