While dictating on a Mac you insert punctuation, symbols, and line breaks by speaking the command out loud — say “period” and a . appears, “new paragraph” starts a fresh block, “all caps” shouts the next word. These work in the standard Dictation you turn on at System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation. Commands that edit or move the cursor — “delete that”, “select the last word” — are a separate feature, Voice Control, under Accessibility. Below is the working list, plus the shortcut of letting AI infer punctuation so you never have to say it.
How dictation commands work
When dictation is on and you speak a recognized command, macOS inserts the mark instead of typing the words. Say “I'll be there comma promise period” and you get “I'll be there, promise.” The trick is that everything you don't flag as a command is treated as literal text, so punctuation and formatting only appear when you name them — which is exactly why raw dictation reads as one long lowercase sentence if you just talk normally. Turn dictation on at System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation, start it with your shortcut (by default pressing Fn/🌐 twice), and the commands below are available in any text field.
Punctuation and symbol commands
The core punctuation commands: “period” (.), “comma” (,), “question mark” (?), “exclamation point” (!), “colon” (:), “semicolon” (;), “apostrophe” (’), “open parenthesis” and “close parenthesis”, “open bracket” and “close bracket”, “quote” and “end quote”, “hyphen” (-), “dash” (–), “em dash” (—), and “ellipsis” or “dot dot dot” (…). Symbols work the same way: “at sign” (@), “percent sign” (%), “ampersand” (&), “asterisk” (*), “number sign” or “pound sign” (#), “dollar sign” ($), “degree sign” (°), and “forward slash” or “backslash”. For faces, say “smiley” for :‑), “frowny” for :‑(, and “winky” for ;‑). Speak the command where the mark belongs and it drops in without a space before it, just like typed punctuation.
New lines, paragraphs, and capitalization
For layout: say “new line” to move down one line (like pressing Return), “new paragraph” to leave a blank line and start a fresh block, and “tab key” to indent. For capitalization: “caps on” and “caps off” capitalize the first letter of each word in between; “all caps” makes the next word uppercase, while “all caps on” and “all caps off” shout everything between them; “no caps” forces the next word lowercase. Say “numeral” before a number to force digits (“numeral seven” → 7 instead of “seven”). These formatting commands are what turn a spoken monologue into something with structure — but you have to remember to say each one at the right moment, every time.
Editing and moving the cursor need Voice Control
Here's the boundary that trips people up: standard Dictation inserts text and punctuation, but it does not edit or navigate. Commands like “delete that”, “scratch that”, “select the last sentence”, “move up two lines”, or “click Send” belong to Voice Control, a separate Accessibility feature you enable at System Settings → Accessibility → Voice Control. Voice Control is a full hands-free mode — it can click, scroll, select, correct, and open apps by voice — and it's the right tool if you want to run the whole Mac without a keyboard. If you only wanted to add a comma, you don't need it; if you want to fix and reshape text by voice, that's where those commands live. (There's a fuller comparison in the voice-commands guide linked below.)
The shortcut: let AI add the punctuation
Memorizing two dozen commands is the price of verbatim dictation — and it's optional. An AI dictation app infers punctuation, capitalization, and paragraph breaks from what you actually mean, so you talk in plain sentences and the finished text comes out correctly formatted without a single spoken “comma” or “new paragraph”. You still get clean structure — real punctuation, proper capitals, paragraphs where they belong — you just don't have to narrate it. For anyone who dictates more than the occasional sentence, that's the difference between performing punctuation aloud and simply speaking your mind.
Skip the command list
Clavio is an AI dictation app for Mac that adds the punctuation for you: speak in plain sentences and finished, correctly‑punctuated text lands in any focused field — no “comma”, no “new paragraph”, no cheat sheet to memorize. It lives in the menu bar, pastes anywhere, adapts tone per app, and has no length cap. Free to try — 3,000 polished words a month, no card, macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon.
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Common questions
How do I add a period or comma when dictating on a Mac?
Say the punctuation out loud as a command: “period” inserts a ., “comma” inserts a ,, “question mark” a ?, and so on. macOS treats the spoken command as the mark rather than typing the word. If you'd rather not narrate punctuation, an AI dictation app infers it from what you say.
How do I start a new line or new paragraph by voice?
Say “new line” to move down one line, like pressing Return, or “new paragraph” to leave a blank line and start a new block. Say “tab key” to indent. These layout commands work in standard macOS Dictation while you're speaking into any text field.
Can I delete or select text by voice while dictating?
Not with standard Dictation — it only inserts text and punctuation. Editing and navigation commands like “delete that”, “scratch that”, and “select the last sentence” belong to Voice Control, a separate Accessibility feature (System Settings → Accessibility → Voice Control) built for full hands-free control of the Mac.
Do I have to memorize all the dictation commands?
Only if you use verbatim dictation, where punctuation and formatting appear only when you speak them. An AI dictation app infers punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphs from your meaning, so you talk normally and the finished text is formatted for you — no command list required.