Mac dictation punctuation commands: the full list

In Apple's built-in Mac Dictation you add punctuation by saying its name: "comma", "period", "question mark", "exclamation mark". Say "new line" for a line break and "new paragraph" for a paragraph break. In supported languages, Dictation also adds commas, periods and question marks on its own, so most of the time you only need the formatting commands.

The full list is below, taken from Apple's dictation commands reference for macOS 15 Sequoia and checked October 31, 2026. The same commands work in macOS 14 Sonoma. They're for Apple Dictation; other dictation apps handle punctuation their own way.

#Punctuation commands

Note "exclamation mark", not "exclamation point", in Apple's list. And "dash" gives you an en dash; say "hyphen" for the short one in words like "follow-up".

#Formatting and capitalization

#Symbols worth knowing

Apple's list goes well beyond punctuation. The ones people actually use:

• Typography: "ampersand" (&), "at sign" (@), "asterisk" (*), "hashtag" or "pound sign" (#), "percent sign" (%), "forward slash" (/), "underscore" (_).
• Money: "dollar sign", "euro sign", "pound sterling sign", "yen sign", "cent sign".
• Math: "plus sign", "minus sign", "equal sign", "multiplication sign", "greater than sign", "less than sign".
• Other: "copyright sign", "registered sign", "trademark sign", "degree sign".
• Emoji: in some languages you can say an emoji's name, like "heart emoji".

#Automatic punctuation, and when to turn it off

Apple Dictation inserts commas, periods and question marks automatically in supported languages. That's on by default. If you'd rather control every mark yourself, open System Settings › Keyboard, scroll to Dictation, and turn off Auto-punctuation.

The trade-off: with it on, you can speak naturally and only say "new paragraph" now and then, but if you also say "period", you'll occasionally get a doubled mark or a stray word. With it off, nothing is guessed, and you say every comma.

A sensible middle ground for most people: leave auto-punctuation on, say "new paragraph" and "question mark" when it matters, and fix the rest by keyboard.

#Try it: a 30-second practice

Open a blank TextEdit document, start Apple Dictation, and say:

"Hi Sam comma new paragraph quote the numbers are final end quote comma according to finance period new paragraph can you send the deck by numeral three question mark"

You should get:

Hi Sam,

"The numbers are final," according to finance.

Can you send the deck by 3?

Then check: did any command come out as a word, did "numeral" give you a digit, and did auto-punctuation add a mark you also said? If TextEdit gets it right and another app doesn't, the problem is that app, not your settings.

#When punctuation words type as words

Work through these in order:

1. Check which tool is listening. Google Docs Voice typing, a browser's microphone button and third-party apps each have their own command handling. An Apple command list doesn't apply to them.
2. Check the dictation language. English command words won't work if Dictation is set to another language. Under Keyboard › Dictation, click Edit next to Languages, and check the language label next to the microphone while you dictate.
3. Check Voice Control. When Voice Control is on, it handles dictation instead of standard Dictation, and commands behave differently. See Voice Control vs Dictation.
4. Pause briefly around commands. "comma" said mid-word in a fast run of speech is easier to mishear as text.
5. Give up on rare symbols. For a pipe or a backslash, typing it once is faster than saying it three times.

If Dictation doesn't start at all, see Mac dictation not working.

#Skip the commands: punctuation without saying it

Saying "comma" out loud breaks your train of thought, and it's the main reason dictation feels unnatural at first. Sayburst takes the other approach: you talk normally, and it adds capitals and punctuation for you, removes "um" and "uh", and drops accidental repeats. You keep only the structure words: "new line", "new paragraph" and "bullet point".

Here's a packing list said to Notes:

"for the trip, um, bullet point passport, bullet point the charger for the, the camera, bullet point euros, new paragraph and remind Tom about the airport transfer"

What Sayburst inserts:

For the trip:

• Passport
• The charger for the camera
• Euros

And remind Tom about the airport transfer.

No "comma", no "period", no "colon". Set Notes to the Notes mode and spoken lists turn into bullets even without saying "bullet point". Recognition and cleanup both run on your Mac, so this works offline after the one-time model download.

Two habits help with any tool. First, review dates, amounts and "not" before sending: a neatly punctuated sentence can still say the wrong thing. Second, teach your tool the names you use most; the custom vocabulary guide covers that, because punctuation settings won't fix a misspelled colleague. New to dictation? Start with how to dictate on a Mac, or see how Apple's tool compares in Sayburst vs Apple Dictation.

Questions people ask

How do I add a new paragraph when dictating on a Mac?

Say "new paragraph" for two returns, or "new line" for one. Both work in Apple Dictation, and Sayburst understands them too.

Does Mac dictation add punctuation automatically?

Yes, in supported languages Apple Dictation inserts commas, periods and question marks on its own. You can turn this off with Auto-punctuation in System Settings › Keyboard › Dictation.

Why does my Mac type the word comma instead of the punctuation mark?

Usually a different tool is listening (Google Docs Voice typing or another app), the dictation language doesn't match the command language, or Voice Control is on. Test one short sentence in TextEdit with Apple Dictation to find out which.

How do I capitalize a word with Mac dictation?

Say "caps on" before a phrase to title-case it and "caps off" after. "All caps" capitalizes the next word, and "all caps on" / "all caps off" wraps a whole phrase.

How do I dictate a number as digits?

Say "numeral" before the number, for example "numeral twenty five", and Apple Dictation writes it as a figure.