Version at: 12/10/2013, 04:01

#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.

"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**

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

32 examples by native speakers use « SENTENCE_1 » « SENTENCE_2 »

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

**German**

212 examples by native speakers use „SENTENCE_1“ — „SENTENCE_2“

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

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

54 examples by native speakers use „SENTENCE_1“ „SENTENCE_1“

**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]

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]

French seems to use 2 different standards.

version at: 12/10/2013, 04:02

#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.

"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**

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

32 examples by native speakers use « SENTENCE_1 » « SENTENCE_2 »

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

**German**

212 examples by native speakers use „SENTENCE_1“ — „SENTENCE_2“

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

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

54 examples by native speakers use „SENTENCE_1“ „SENTENCE_1“

**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.