Version at: 22/10/2018, 00:51 vs. version at: 06/12/2019, 15:02
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.
88
99Dialogues can also be used to show how non-sentences can be used as responses.
1010
11* [#1431300] "Is he lying?" "Obviously."
12* [#5401699] "Can I join you?" "Sure."
13* [#6229650] "Who was there?" "Only Tom."
14* [#6446394] "How do you feel?" "Better."
15* [#4628683] "Are you tired?" "Not really."
11* [[#1431300](https://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/show/1431300)] "Is he lying?" "Obviously."
12* [[#5401699](https://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/show/5401699)] "Can I join you?" "Sure."
13* [[#6229650](https://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/show/6229650)] "Who was there?" "Only Tom."
14* [[#6446394](https://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/show/6446394)] "How do you feel?" "Better."
15* [[#4628683](https://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/show/4628683)] "Are you tired?" "Not really."
1616
1717##Formatting Standards - Examples
1818
1919**English** - Put each sentence in (double) quotes. We use "straight" quotes and not "curly" quotes on tatoeba.org.
2020
2121"I caught a bad cold." "That's too bad."
2222
2323**Japanese** - Put each sentence in quotes 「 」without 。 There is no additional space between these quotes 」「.
2424
2525「悪い風邪を引きました」「それはいけませんね」
2626
27**French.** You should use « Sentence 1. » « Sentence 2. »
27**French.** You should use « Sentence 1. » « Sentence 2. »
28
29On Windows, one can insert « with Alt + 174 and » with Alt + 175. A space should be inserted after and before the _guillemets_, ideally a non-breaking space (Alt + 255). There is no need to add a hyphen or a dash at the beginning of the sentences.
2830
2931**German.** Use the following format: „Ich bin ganz stark erkältet.“ – „Das ist aber ärgerlich!“
3032
31The 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.
33The 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.
3234
3335##Others - (In Progress - Just Notes)
3436
3537NOTE: 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.
3638
3739**Esperanto**
3840
3941(No native speakers, but ...)
4042
4143520 examples use this format.
4244"SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2"
4345
4446184 examples use this format.
4547"SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"
4648
4749**Hebrew**
4850
4951193 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2"
5052
5153? examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"
5254(I can't easily check RTL languages for this.)
5355
5456**Portuguese**
5557
5658606 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2" (Same as English)
5759
58600 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"
5961
6062**Spanish**
6163
6264383 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" "SENTENCE_2" (Same as English)
6365
64666 examples by native speakers use "SENTENCE_1" - "SENTENCE_2"
6567
6668## Reference
6769
6870[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-English_usage_of_quotation_marks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-English_usage_of_quotation_marks)
6971
7072This might be a good guide. However, the Tatoeba Corpus has adopted "straight" quotes as the standard rather than "curly" quotes.
7173
72[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)
73
74French seems to use 2 different standards.
75
diff view generated by jsdifflib

Version at: 22/10/2018, 00:51

#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."
* [#5401699] "Can I join you?" "Sure."
* [#6229650] "Who was there?" "Only Tom."
* [#6446394] "How do you feel?" "Better."
* [#4628683] "Are you tired?" "Not really."

##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: 06/12/2019, 15:02

#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](https://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/show/1431300)] "Is he lying?" "Obviously."
* [[#5401699](https://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/show/5401699)] "Can I join you?" "Sure."
* [[#6229650](https://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/show/6229650)] "Who was there?" "Only Tom."
* [[#6446394](https://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/show/6446394)] "How do you feel?" "Better."
* [[#4628683](https://tatoeba.org/eng/sentences/show/4628683)] "Are you tired?" "Not really."

##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. »

On Windows, one can insert « with Alt + 174 and » with Alt + 175. A space should be inserted after and before the _guillemets_, ideally a non-breaking space (Alt + 255). There is no need to add a hyphen or a dash at the beginning of the sentences.

**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.

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.