Orthography, punctuation and text editing
Orthography, punctuation and text editing
This domain tests your ability to apply spelling rules, punctuation, and editing skills. In Romanian, key orthography rules include: use of ă, â, î, ș, ț; writing i vs ii vs iii (e.g., "copii" vs "copiii"); hyphenation (e.g., "într-o", "să-ți"); and apostrophe (e.g., "nu-i"). Punctuation: comma in enumerations, before "dar", "iar", "însă"; period at sentence end; question mark and exclamation mark; quotation marks for direct speech; dash for dialogue.
Traps: Common errors include missing comma before "care" in non-defining relative clauses, or incorrect use of hyphen with pronouns (e.g., "dă-mi" vs "dămi"). Also, homophones: "sa" vs "s-a", "sau" vs "s-au". Another trap is capitalisation of proper nouns and at sentence start. Editing questions may ask you to identify fragment sentences or run-ons.
Rule of thumb: Read the sentence aloud to check natural pauses for commas. For "s-a" vs "sa", test if you can replace with "se" (reflexive) -> "s-a"; if it shows possession -> "sa". For "i" vs "ii", plural noun ends in "i" (copii), plural with definite article adds "i" (copiii).
Worked example: Sentence: "El sa dus la magazin." Correct: "El s-a dus la magazin." Because "s-a" is reflexive verb "a se duce" (he went himself). "Sa" would be possessive (e.g., "cartea sa").