Version at: 06/07/2016, 12:41

#How to Write Dialogues

##Why Write Dialogues

In order to provide context, sometimes single sentences are not enough.

##Formatting Standards - Examples

**English** - Put each sentence in (double) quotes. We use "straight" quotes and not "curly" quotes on tatoeba.org.

"I caught a bad cold." "That's too bad."

**Japanese**  - Put each sentence in quotes 「 」without 。 There is no additional space between these quotes 」「.

「悪い風邪を引きました」「それはいけませんね」


##Others - (In Progress - Just Notes)

NOTE: Perhaps most languages that use the quote character ("), are using the same standard in the Tatoeba Corpus as English does.  I've checked the following languages.

**Esperanto**

(No native speakers, but ...)

520 examples use this format.
"SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2"

184 examples use this format.
"SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"

**French**

You should use « Sentence 1. » « Sentence 2. »

**German**

Use the following format: „Sentence 1.“ – „Sentence 2.“

The dash must be a dash (Alt + 0150), not a hyphen. It should ideally be preceded by a non-breaking space (Alt + 255).

**Hebrew**

193 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2"

? examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"
(I can't easily check RTL languages for this.)

**Portuguese**

606 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2"  (Same as English)

0 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"

**Spanish**

383 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2"  (Same as English)

6 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"

## Reference

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-English_usage_of_quotation_marks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-English_usage_of_quotation_marks)

This might be a good guide. However, the Tatoeba Corpus has adopted "straight" quotes as the standard rather than "curly" quotes.

[http://french.stackexchange.com/questions/115/is-it-necessary-to-use-guillemets-when-quoting-in-french-or-may-one-use-english](http://french.stackexchange.com/questions/115/is-it-necessary-to-use-guillemets-when-quoting-in-french-or-may-one-use-english)

French seems to use 2 different standards.

version at: 06/07/2016, 12:55

#How to Write Dialogues

##Why Write Dialogues

In order to provide context, sometimes single sentences are not enough.

##Formatting Standards - Examples

**English** - Put each sentence in (double) quotes. We use "straight" quotes and not "curly" quotes on tatoeba.org.

"I caught a bad cold." "That's too bad."

**Japanese**  - Put each sentence in quotes 「 」without 。 There is no additional space between these quotes 」「.

「悪い風邪を引きました」「それはいけませんね」

**French.** You should use « Sentence 1. » « Sentence 2. »

**German.** Use the following format: „Ich bin ganz stark erkältet.“ – „Das ist aber ärgerlich!“

The dash must be a dash (Alt + 0150), not a hyphen. It should ideally be preceded by a non-breaking space (Alt + 255). Alt codes for the opening and closing typograohical quotation marks used in German are Alt + 0132 and Alt + 0147.

##Others - (In Progress - Just Notes)

NOTE: Perhaps most languages that use the quote character ("), are using the same standard in the Tatoeba Corpus as English does.  I've checked the following languages.

**Esperanto**

(No native speakers, but ...)

520 examples use this format.
"SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2"

184 examples use this format.
"SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"

**Hebrew**

193 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2"

? examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"
(I can't easily check RTL languages for this.)

**Portuguese**

606 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2"  (Same as English)

0 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"

**Spanish**

383 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2"  (Same as English)

6 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"

## Reference

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-English_usage_of_quotation_marks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-English_usage_of_quotation_marks)

This might be a good guide. However, the Tatoeba Corpus has adopted "straight" quotes as the standard rather than "curly" quotes.

[http://french.stackexchange.com/questions/115/is-it-necessary-to-use-guillemets-when-quoting-in-french-or-may-one-use-english](http://french.stackexchange.com/questions/115/is-it-necessary-to-use-guillemets-when-quoting-in-french-or-may-one-use-english)

French seems to use 2 different standards.

Note

The lines in green are the lines that have been added in the new version. The lines in red are those that have been removed.