Grammar and Orthography
This domain tests accuracy in spelling, capitalisation, punctuation and word division in standard Oshindonga. Marks are lost for small mechanical errors even when the meaning is clear.
Spelling and digraphs
Treat sh, th, dh, ng, ny, gw and kw as units. Do not split them across lines or insert vowels. Write Oshindonga, oshikola and ovanhu as single words.
Capitalisation and punctuation
Capitalise the first word of a sentence, proper nouns such as Namibia, Oshakati and Oshindonga, and titles. Use the full stop, comma, question mark and quotation marks correctly; in dialogue, punctuation belongs inside the quotation marks.
Word division
Keep the noun-class prefix with the stem: oshi-kola is wrong; oshikola is right. Locative forms such as koshikola are written together.
Worked example
Correct: ‘ovanhu vahapu ova ya koshikola’ becomes ‘Ovanhu vahapu ova ya koshikola.’ Reasoning: capitalise the first word; ovanhu is one word; koshikola is a locative contraction and is not split; the sentence needs a full stop.
Traps that cost marks
- Writing Oshindonga with a lower-case o.
- Splitting digraphs, for example shi kola.
- Putting a comma between subject and verb.
- Using English capitalisation inconsistently.
- Forgetting the final full stop in a corrected sentence.