Punctuation rule for Bahasa, Vietnamese and Thai

Bahasa -Punctuation
Generally punctuation conventions in Indonesian are identical to those in English, except in the case of series of adjectives, which are generally punctuated with commas in English but not in Indonesian. Thus translators should follow the punctuation in the English text, but leave series of adjectives unpunctuated if they arise. Coma in Indonesian is used as decimal separators, while period is used as thousand separators.

Punctuation spacing in Indonesian is also as in English, i.e. punctuation marks are not preceded by a space but are always followed by one space.

Vietnamese -Punctuation
General punctuation rules are similar to English, with some exceptions.

Example:

The number format and decimal point are different from English. To write a chain of numbers, semicolon could be used.

Thai – Spacing for Punctuation
The rules of using punctuation in Thai are not the same as in English. It is not recommended to use punctuation in Thai sentences. Try to translate thai punctuation.

FULL STOP เครื่องหมายมหัพภาค (.)

Use FULL STOP for abbreviation purposes only, not for “to stop” or end sentences.

Use FULL STOP (.) for abbreviation purposes

For example: ก.ท.ม. is the abbreviation for Bangkok.

Use FULL STOP (.) in metric systems

For example: ซม. is the abbreviation for centimeter.

COMMA เครื่องหมายจุลภาค (,)

It is used in English to separate words or phrases. In Thai, we use a space to separate words or phrases. Do not try to put (,) in Thai sentences in the exact position as in English.

For example: However, sentence1, sentence2.

Should be อย่างไรก็ตาม + space + sentence1 + space + sentence 2 + space

For example: When sentence1, sentence2.

Should be เมื่อ + sentence1 + space + sentence2 + space

However, we suggest putting translation in the same order as English if it does not affect the meaning.

For example: Update, Add, or Remove Data.

Should be การปรับปรุง การเพิ่ม หรือการลบข้อมูล

Note: Comma must be used to separate the series of number.

For example: browse through Sections 2, 3 and 4.

Should be ให้ข้ามไปดูบทที่ 2, 3 และ 4

Exception: “index keywords” are formatted with comma which separates entry level 1 from entry level 2. These commas must not be removed and order must be respect.

QUOTATION MARK เครื่องหมายคำพูด (“…”)

It can be used the same way as in English. But be careful when using quotation marks inside quotation marks.

HYPHEN เครื่องหมายยัติภังค์ (-)

It should never be used. Thai language does not break words by hyphen like in English.

PARENTHESIS เครื่องหมายวงเล็บ ()

Use PARENTHESIS ( ) the same way as in English. Caution: When using parentheses inside parentheses.

QUESTION MARK เครื่องหมายคำถาม (?)

No QUESTION MARK (?) at the end of a sentence. As we all know, we do not normally put a question mark at the end of Thai sentence.

COLON โคลอน (:)

It is highly recommended to avoid using colons. Try to translate them. You can translate thai COLON into meaningful words. This might sound weird, but it is not impossible. It can be done beautifully, if you follow these rules:

Rule # 1: Translate COLON as คือ, if the phrase after the colon is a description of the words before the colon.

For example: There are two types of messages: Informative messages and Interactive messages.

Should be มีข้อความอยู่ 2 ประเภท คือ ข้อความ…………..และ ข้อความ……..

Rule # 2: Translate COLON as ด้วยการ, if the phrase after the colon is the “how to do” of the phrase before the colon.

For example: Working with the Team: Exchange Information with Others over a Network

Should be การทำงานเป็นทีม ด้วยการแลกเปลี่ยนข้อมูลกับผู้ร่วมงานอื่นๆ ผ่านเครือข่าย. Translate colon to ด้วยการ.

SEMI COLON เครื่องหมายอัฒภาค (;)

Use space instead of semi colon symbol in Thai sentences.

For example: You can create a new, blank workbook; or, to save time, you can open an existing workbook, or template, and fill in your data.

Should be คุณสามารถสร้างสมุดงานว่างได้ใหม่ หรือเพื่อให้ประหยัดเวลา คุณสามารถเปิดสมุดงานที่มีอยู่ หรือแม่แบบแล้วใส่ข้อมูลของคุณ

REPETITION SYMBOL (ๆ – Mai Ya Mok)

Only add one space after repetition symbol. For example: งานอื่นๆ ที่เคยทำ.

Read Also: Thai Language Translation Service

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