Aug 18, 2019

How do I dictate punctuation in French ?

I've been experimenting dictating documents in Google Docs on my PC. Punctuation is a big problem. Voice dictation sometimes works in English, but not always (dictating "inverted commas", "semicolon", etc., do not work). How can I improve this? While I'm at it, I sometimes need to dictate texts in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian and Greek. There again punctuation is a problem. I would welcome any suggestions. Thanks in advance

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Jo S.

Diamond Product Expert

I've been volunteering in the help forums since 2013. I do NOT work for Google.

Aug 19, 2019

As long as you have set up your language (per my instructions above), the punctuation should work. That's why I explained how to set up the languages in your account so you can alternate among them.

Please see this page to learn which punctuation is supported in voice typing: Type with your voice. Also take a look at the troubleshooting steps at the bottom of that page. It's possible that you aren't speaking the punctuation quickly enough or that you're using a different term for them. To see which terms voice typing supports for punctuation in the language you're using, change the language in that article to the one you want to type with. You'll see a drop-down menu at the very bottom of that article (to the right of the copyright) where you can change the language for that page.

~Jo

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Jo S.

Diamond Product Expert

I've been volunteering in the help forums since 2013. I do NOT work for Google.

Aug 18, 2019

Hi, there,

I'd suggest adding multiple languages to your Google account and alternating among them in your account (via step #5 below) as needed when you dictate in Docs.

Set Up Multiple Languages

1. Go to myaccount.google.com.
2. Go to Data & personalization > General preferences for the web > Language.
3. Click on Language > Add another language.
4. Add the languages that you need. To switch to English (UK) or (US), click on English and a list countries will appear. Choose the one you need.

5. Use the "up" arrow in the language panel to move the language you want into the "default" position.

How to Alternate the Dictionary among Languages
1. Go to myaccount.google.com.
2. Go to Data & personalization > General preferences for the web > Input Tools.
3. Click on Input Tools.
4. Find the languages that you need and select whether you want to switch the keyboard for those languages.
5. Also tick the box for "Suggest."
6. Scroll down and under "Options" tick the box for "Synchronize dictionary."
7. Click the blue Done button.

When you're in a Google Docs document, go to File > Language and select the language you need. Once you have it set up under Input Tools in myaccount.google.com, you should be able to easily switch among them, including the dictionary.

~Jo

troiscarottes

Original Poster

Aug 19, 2019

Platinum Product Expert

This does not answer my question. My question is not about how to switch languages, but how to dictate punctuation in any of these. In other words, when I dictate "point-virgule" (semicolon) in French, I want to see ";" appear, not "point-virgule". When I dictate "coma" in Spanish, I want to see ",", not "coma". Same with Greek. If I say "θαυμαστικό", I want "!", not "θαυμαστικό". Is this at all possible? Thanks in advance!

Last edited Aug 19, 2019

Jo S.

Diamond Product Expert

I've been volunteering in the help forums since 2013. I do NOT work for Google.