Spoken Punctuation
WhisperTyping's transcription engine automatically adds punctuation like periods, commas, and question marks as you dictate. For more control, you can also speak punctuation commands explicitly — say the punctuation name while dictating, and it will be converted to the appropriate symbol.
Other languages: German (Deutsch) | Dutch (Nederlands) | French (Français) | Spanish (Español)
Common Punctuation
| Say | Result |
|---|---|
| “period”* or “full stop” | . |
| “comma” | , |
| “question mark” | ? |
| “exclamation mark” or “exclamation point” | ! |
| “colon”* | : |
| “semicolon” | ; |
| “apostrophe” | ' |
| “hyphen” or “dash” | - |
| “em dash” | — |
* Works best with a brief pause before and after, since the word is commonly used in everyday speech. You can say “full stop” instead of “period” to avoid needing a pause.
Quotes and Brackets
| Say | Result |
|---|---|
| "open quote" or "opening quote" | " |
| "close quote" or "closing quote" | " |
| "open single quote" | ' |
| "close single quote" or "apostrophe" | ' |
| "open parenthesis" or "open bracket" | ( |
| "close parenthesis" or "close bracket" | ) |
| "open square bracket" | [ |
| "close square bracket" | ] |
| "open curly bracket" | { |
| "close curly bracket" | } |
Special Characters
| Say | Result |
|---|---|
| "ampersand" | & |
| "asterisk" | * |
| "underscore" | _ |
| "at sign" | @ |
| "slash" or "forward slash" | / |
| "backslash" | \ |
| "ellipsis" | … |
| "equals sign" | = |
| "plus sign" | + |
| "minus sign" | - |
| "dollar sign" | $ |
| "euro sign" | € |
| "pound sign" | £ |
| "yen sign" | ¥ |
Formatting Commands
| Say | Result |
|---|---|
| "new line" | Line break |
| "new paragraph" | Double line break |
Bullet Points
Create bullet point lists by saying these commands. Each command starts a new line with the appropriate bullet symbol.
| Say | Result |
|---|---|
| "bullet point" or "bullet" | • (new line with bullet) |
| "dash point" | - (new line with dash) |
| "asterisk point" | * (new line with asterisk) |
Example: "Here are three items. Bullet point. First item. Bullet point. Second item. Bullet point. Third item."
Result:
Here are three items.
• First item
• Second item
• Third item
Numbered Lists
Create numbered lists by saying these commands. You can specify the number explicitly, or let WhisperTyping auto-increment for you.
| Say | Result |
|---|---|
| "number point one" or "numbered point 1" | 1. (new line with number) |
| "number point two" or "numbered point 2" | 2. (new line with number) |
| "number point" (without a number) | Auto-increments from last number |
Auto-numbering example: "Here are my steps. Number point. First step. Number point. Second step. Number point. Third step."
Result:
Here are my steps.
1. First step
2. Second step
3. Third step
Mixed numbering: If you say "number point three" followed by "number point", the auto-numbering continues from 3, giving you 4, 5, 6, etc.
Tip: The transcription engine may automatically add punctuation in many cases. If you find spoken punctuation is conflicting with auto-punctuation, you can adjust the punctuation settings in Settings → Transcription.
Spelling Mode
Need to spell out a name, email address, or uncommon word? Say “spell” followed by individual letters, and WhisperTyping will combine them into a word. The spelling sequence ends automatically when you continue with normal speech.
Example: “My name is spell capital S-A-R-A-H and I live in London.”
Result: My name is Sarah and I live in London.
Letter-by-Letter Spelling
Speak individual letters clearly. The speech engine will produce hyphenated letters (like S-A-R-A-H) which get combined into a word.
| Say | Result |
|---|---|
| “spell J-O-H-N” | john |
| “spell capital J-O-H-N” | John |
| “spell all caps A-B-C-D” | ABCD |
NATO Phonetic Alphabet
For better accuracy, you can use the NATO phonetic alphabet. Each word maps to a single letter.
| Say | Letter | Say | Letter | Say | Letter | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha | a | Juliet | j | Sierra | s | ||
| Bravo | b | Kilo | k | Tango | t | ||
| Charlie | c | Lima | l | Uniform | u | ||
| Delta | d | Mike | m | Victor | v | ||
| Echo | e | November | n | Whiskey | w | ||
| Foxtrot | f | Oscar | o | X-ray | x | ||
| Golf | g | Papa | p | Yankee | y | ||
| Hotel | h | Quebec | q | Zulu | z | ||
| India | i | Romeo | r |
Example: “The code is spell Alpha Bravo Charlie and it works.”
Result: The code is abc and it works.
Symbols and Spaces
Use these keywords inside a spelling sequence to insert symbols and spaces:
| Say | Result |
|---|---|
| “space” | (space character) |
| “dot” or “period” | . |
| “dash” or “hyphen” | - |
| “underscore” | _ |
| “at” or “at sign” | @ |
| “colon” | : |
| “slash” | / |
| “backslash” | \ |
| “hash” or “hashtag” | # |
| “plus” | + |
| “ampersand” | & |
Email example: “Send it to spell S-A-R-A-H at G-M-A-I-L dot C-O-M please.”
Result: Send it to [email protected] please.
Multi-word name: “The patient is spell capital V-A-N space capital D-E-R space capital B-E-R-G and she is fine.”
Result: The patient is Van Der Berg and she is fine.
Trigger Words by Language
| Language | Trigger words |
|---|---|
| All languages | “spell” (always works) |
| Dutch | “spellen” |
| French | “épeler”, “épelle” |
| German | “buchstabieren”, “buchstabiere” |
Need more punctuation options?
Let us know what spoken commands you'd like to see.