--- title: "How to Dictate Formatting Commands" slug: "dictation-formatting-commands" updated: 2025-02-17T21:07:06Z published: 2025-02-17T21:07:06Z canonical: "support.nvoq.com/dictation-formatting-commands" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.nvoq.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How to Dictate Formatting Commands How to Say Formatting Commands Use formatting commands to get your dictation to add things like carriage returns, quotation marks, and capitalization. - [**Caps**](/docs/dictation-formatting-commands#caps)...capitalize first letter of one word - **[Caps On / Caps Off](/docs/dictation-formatting-commands#caps-on)**...capitalize first letter of all words - **[All Caps](/docs/dictation-formatting-commands#all-caps)**...capitalize all letters of one word - **[All Caps On / All Caps Off](/docs/dictation-formatting-commands#all-caps-on)**...capitalize all letters of all words - **[Capital A / Letter A](/docs/dictation-formatting-commands#letter)**...capitalize a letter - **[Lowercase / Overwrite](/docs/dictation-formatting-commands#lowercase)**...start the first word of the dictation with a lowercase letter - **[New Line / Next Line](/docs/dictation-formatting-commands#new-line)**...start a new line - **[New Paragraph / Next Paragraph / Paragraph](/docs/dictation-formatting-commands#new-paragraph)**...start a new paragraph - **[Number Next / Next Number](/docs/dictation-formatting-commands#number-next)**...create an automatic numbered list - **[Letter Next / Next Letter](/docs/dictation-formatting-commands#letter-next)**...create an automatic lettered list - **[Numeral One Period / One Period](/docs/dictation-formatting-commands#numbered-list)**...create a manual numbered list - **[Open Quote or Quote / Close Quote or Unquote](/docs/dictation-formatting-commands#quote)**...add quotation marks ## Start a New Line "New Line" or "Next Line" The "new line" or "next line" commands inserts a carriage return into the transcript, starting the next text in the transcript one line down. | **Say this...** | **To display this...** | | --- | --- | | sincerely comma **new line** Gordon Robinson | Sincerely, Gordon Robinson | | sincerely comma **next line** Gordon Robinson | ## Start a New Paragraph "New Paragraph" or "Next Paragraph" or "Paragraph" | **Say this...** | **To display this...** | | --- | --- | | sincerely comma **new paragraph** Gordon Robinson | Sincerely, Gordon Robinson | | sincerely comma **next paragraph** Gordon Robinson | | sincerely comma **paragraph** Gordon Robinson | ## Add Quotation Marks "Open Quote" or "Quote" / "Close Quote" or "Unquote" The "open quote" and "close quote" commands add quotation marks around text in the transcript. You could also say "quote", "open double quote", or "start quote" to start the quotation and "unquote", "close double quote", or "end quote" to end the quotation. | **Say this...** | **To display this...** | | --- | --- | | She told me to buy **open quote** a loaf of bread comma a container milk comma and a stick of butter period **close quote** | She told me to buy "a loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butter." | | She told me to buy **quote** a loaf of bread comma a container of milk comma and a stick of butter period **unquote** | | She told me to buy **open double quote** a loaf of bread comma a container of milk comma and a stick of butter period **close double quote** | | She told me to buy **start quote** a loaf of bread comma a container of milk comma and a stick of butter period **end quote** | ## Create a Numbered List "Numeral One Period" or "One Period" -OR- "Next Number" or "Number Next" ### Numeral One Period or One Period The commands, "numeral one period" or "one period" create a numbered list and capitalize the first letter of each list item. When using these commands, you will need to add the "new line" command before your first list item and between each item if you want them to appear on separate lines. | **Say this...** | **To display this...** | | --- | --- | | I need to buy colon new line **numeral one period** bread new line **numeral two period** milk new line **numeral three period** butter | I need to buy: 1. Bread 2. Milk 3. Butter | | I need to buy colon new line **one period** bread new line **two period** milk new line **three period** butter | ### Number Next or Next Number The commands "**Number Next**" or "**Next Number**" create a numbered list, capitalize the first letter of each list item, and also *automatically* add a new line before each list item. **The "number next" or "next number" commands must be used within one single dictation. If you start a new dictation, the numbering starts over as a new list.** | **Say this...** | **To display this...** | | --- | --- | | I need to buy colon **next number** bread **next number** milk **next number** butter | I need to buy: 1. Bread 2. Milk 3. Butter | | I need to buy colon **number next** bread **number next** milk **number next** butter | ## Create a Lettered List "Letter Next" or "Next Letter" The commands "**Letter Next**" or "**Next Letter**" create a lettered list, capitalize the first letter of each list item, and also *automatically* add a new line before each list item. - Letters in the list go from A to Z. If a list is longer than 26 lines (and needs to go past the letter Z), the list starts numbering from 27. **The "letter next" or "next letter" commands must be used within one single dictation. If you start a new dictation, the lettering starts over as a new list.** | **Say this...** | **To display this...** | | --- | --- | | I need to buy colon **next letter** bread **next letter** milk **next letter** butter | I need to buy: A. Bread B. Milk C. Butter | | I need to buy colon **letter next** bread **letter next** milk **letter next** butter | ## Capitalize a Letter "Capital" or "Letter" If you want to see a capital letter in your dictation, say the word "Letter" or "Capital" before the letter. Multiple capitalized letters in a row will appear in the dictation with no space between them. You can make a lettered list by following the letter with a period followed by the "new line" command after the list item. | **Say this...** | **To display this...** | | --- | --- | | **Capital** a | A | | **Letter** a | | **Capital** a **capital** b **capital** c | ABC | | **Letter** a **letter** b **letter** c | | His flight leaves from gate **capital** a period | His flight leaves from gate A. | | He saw the story on **letter** n **letter** b **letter** c period | He saw the story on NBC. | | **Letter a period** stick of butter new line **letter b period** loaf of bread new line **letter c period** container of milk | A. Stick of butter B. Loaf of bread C. Container of milk | | **Capital a period** stick of butter new line **capital b period** loaf of bread new line **capital c period** container of milk | ## Capitalize First Letter of One Word "Caps" The first word of a dictation is automatically capitalized even if the start of the dictation is not the first word in a sentence. Also if a word is normally capitalized (like "June"), it will be capitalized automatically. The "caps" command allows you to capitalize Other Words that would not normally be capitalized. | **Say this...** | **To display this...** | | --- | --- | | Tuesday will now be known as **caps** bagel **caps** day period | Tuesday will now be known as Bagel Day. | | I went to the **caps** apple store to get a new phone period | I went to the Apple store to get a new phone. | ## Capitalize First Letter of All Words "Caps On" / "Caps Off" You can capitalize the first letter of all words by saying "caps on" before the words. When you want to stop capitalizing, say "caps off", or release your dictation button. | **Say this...** | **To display this...** | | --- | --- | | Tuesday will now be known as **caps on** bagel day **caps off** period | Tuesday will now be known as Bagel Day. | | I went to the **caps on** apple store **caps off** to get a new phone period | I went through the Apple Store to get a new phone. | ## Capitalize All Letters in One Word "All Caps" You can capitalize ALL LETTERS of a word by saying "all caps" before the word. | **Say this...** | **To display this...** | | --- | --- | | Tuesday will now be known as **all caps** bagel day period | Tuesday will now be known as BAGEL day. | | I went to the **all caps** apple store to get a new phone period | I went to the APPLE store to get a new phone. | ## Capitalize All Letters in All Words "All Caps On" / "All Caps Off" You can capitalize ALL LETTERS of all words by saying "all caps on" before the words. When you want to stop capitalizing, say "all caps off", or release your dictation button. | **Say this...** | **To display this...** | | --- | --- | | Tuesday will now be known as **all caps on** bagel day **all caps off** period | Tuesday will now be known as BAGEL DAY. | | I went to the **all caps on** apple store **all caps off** to get a new phone period | I went to the APPLE STORE to get a new phone. | ## Begin a Dictation Transcript with a Lowercase Letter "Lowercase" or "Overwrite" The first word of a dictation is automatically capitalized. Saying "lowercase" or "overwrite" at the beginning of a dictation starts the first word of the dictation with a lowercase letter. This can be useful if you are starting a new dictation in the middle of a sentence, or if you want to replace text in the middle of a sentence by highlighting the text and dictating over it. | **Say this...** | **To display this...** | | --- | --- | | **lowercase** and a stick of butter | and a stick of butter | | **overwrite** and a stick of butter | ****"Lowercase" and "Overwrite" will NOT work if the first word in your dictation is a proper noun (like the name of something) that is supposed to be capitalized.**** ## Related - [Built-In Substitutions](/administrator-help-built-in-substitutions.md)