Version at: 06/07/2016, 13:16 vs. version at: 22/10/2018, 00:49
11#How to Write Dialogues
22
33Go back to [tatoeba.org](http://tatoeba.org).
44
55##Why Write Dialogues
66
77In order to provide context, sometimes single sentences are not enough.
8
9Dialogues can also be used to show how non-sentences can be used as responses.
10
11[#1431300] "Is he lying?" "Obviously." (marcelostockle)
12[#5401699] "Can I join you?" "Sure." (sarefo)
13[#6229650] "Who was there?" "Only Tom." (CK)
14[#6446394] "How do you feel?" "Better." (Hybrid)
15[#4628683] "Are you tired?" "Not really." (Lazovic)
16
817
918##Formatting Standards - Examples
1019
1120**English** - Put each sentence in (double) quotes. We use "straight" quotes and not "curly" quotes on tatoeba.org.
1221
1322"I caught a bad cold." "That's too bad."
1423
1524**Japanese** - Put each sentence in quotes 「 」without 。 There is no additional space between these quotes 」「.
1625
1726「悪い風邪を引きました」「それはいけませんね」
1827
1928**French.** You should use « Sentence 1. » « Sentence 2. »
2029
2130**German.** Use the following format: „Ich bin ganz stark erkältet.“ – „Das ist aber ärgerlich!“
2231
2332The 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 typographical quotation marks used in German are Alt + 0132 and Alt + 0147.
2433
2534##Others - (In Progress - Just Notes)
2635
2736NOTE: 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.
2837
2938**Esperanto**
3039
3140(No native speakers, but ...)
3241
3342520 examples use this format.
3443"SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2"
3544
3645184 examples use this format.
3746"SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"
3847
3948**Hebrew**
4049
4150193 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2"
4251
4352? examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"
4453(I can't easily check RTL languages for this.)
4554
4655**Portuguese**
4756
4857606 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2" (Same as English)
4958
50590 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"
5160
5261**Spanish**
5362
5463383 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2" (Same as English)
5564
56656 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"
5766
5867## Reference
5968
6069[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-English_usage_of_quotation_marks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-English_usage_of_quotation_marks)
6170
6271This might be a good guide. However, the Tatoeba Corpus has adopted "straight" quotes as the standard rather than "curly" quotes.
6372
6473[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)
6574
6675French seems to use 2 different standards.
6776
diff view generated by jsdifflib

Version at: 06/07/2016, 13:16

#How to Write Dialogues

Go back to [tatoeba.org](http://tatoeba.org).

##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 typographical 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.

version at: 22/10/2018, 00:49

#How to Write Dialogues

Go back to [tatoeba.org](http://tatoeba.org).

##Why Write Dialogues

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

Dialogues can also be used to show how non-sentences can be used as responses.

[#1431300] "Is he lying?" "Obviously." (marcelostockle)
[#5401699] "Can I join you?" "Sure." (sarefo)
[#6229650] "Who was there?" "Only Tom." (CK)
[#6446394] "How do you feel?" "Better." (Hybrid)
[#4628683] "Are you tired?" "Not really." (Lazovic)


##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 typographical 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.