OS X Yosemite: Commands for dictating text

Commands for dictating text

When you’re dictating, there are many commands that you can use. For example, you can insert any punctuation mark by saying its name, such as “comma” or “period.” The commands listed here help you while dictating text and are always on.

If you’re using Enhanced Dictation, there are additional commands for editing, formatting, and navigating that you can turn on or off in the Dictation section of Accessibility preferences. For more information about these commands, see Dictation pane of Accessibility preferences.

Punctuation

Command
Result

apostrophe

open bracket

[

close bracket

]

open parenthesis

(

close parenthesis

)

open brace

{

close brace

}

open angle bracket

<

close angle bracket

>

colon

:

comma

,

dash

ellipsis

exclamation mark

!

hyphen

-

period/point/dot/full stop

.

question mark

?

quote

end quote

begin single quote

end single quote

semicolon

;

Typography

Command
Result

ampersand

&

asterisk

*

at sign

@

backslash

\

forward slash

/

caret

^

center dot

large center dot

degree sign

°

hashtag/pound sign

#

percent sign

%

underscore

_

vertical bar

|

Formatting

Command
Result

new line

Starts a new line.

numeral

Formats the next phrase as a number.

roman numeral

Formats the next phrase as a Roman numeral.

new paragraph

Starts a new paragraph.

no space on

Formats the next phrase without spaces.

no space off

Resumes default spacing.

tab key

Moves the cursor to the next tab stop.

Capitalization

Command
Result

caps on

Formats the next phrase in Title Case.

caps off

Resumes the default case lettering.

all caps

Formats the next word in ALL CAPS.

all caps on

Formats the next phrase in ALL CAPS.

all caps off

Resumes the default case lettering.

Mathematical

Command
Result

equal sign

=

greater than sign

>

less than sign

<

minus sign

-

multiplication sign

x

plus sign

+

Currency

Command
Result

dollar sign

$

cent sign

¢

pound sterling sign

£

euro sign

yen sign

¥

Emoticons

Command
Result

smiley face

:-)

frowny face

:-(

winky face

;-)

cross-eyed laughing face

XD

Intellectual property

Command
Result

copyright sign

©

registered sign

®

trademark sign

Last Modified: Sep 23, 2015
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