How to type a hyphen and a slash by voice in Windows

Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.

In Windows voice input a hyphen is typed by the command “defis” (hyphen) or “znak minus” (minus sign), a dash by a separate command “tire” (dash), and a slash by “kosaya cherta” (slash). All this works in Russian only in Windows 11. On Mac these marks are named the same way, only the dash there has a different symbol. Potok (potok.now) has no voice commands, and no separate phrase for a hyphen and a slash either.

A hyphen, a dash and a slash in voice input are different commands, not one mark, and it is easy to confuse a hyphen with a dash. Here is what to say in Windows, how it differs from Mac and what Potok has to do with it. The commands are spoken in Russian, so they are given here in Latin letters with an explanation.

How to type a hyphen and a slash by voice in Windows: a checklist

1. Check the system: Windows voice input with Win+H works in Russian only in Windows 11; in Windows 10 there is no Russian voice input.
2. For a hyphen say “defis” (hyphen) or “znak minus” (minus sign). In the official Win+H punctuation table these are two variants of the same phrase for the mark -.
3. For a dash you need a separate command “tire” (dash). It types a different symbol, the long dash —, not a hyphen.
4. For a slash say “kosaya cherta” (slash), and the mark / appears.
5. An example of a spoken phrase: “IT defis spetsialist, pyatdesyat kosaya cherta pyatdesyat” (“IT hyphen specialist, fifty slash fifty”). The command is put in as a word in the place of the mark, and the rest of the text is dictated as usual.
6. On Mac the commands are named the same way: “defis” types -, “tire” types –, “kosaya cherta” types /.
7. If you dictate in Potok (potok.now), it has no separate voice command for a hyphen or a slash, just as it has no other voice commands in general. How dictation on a MacBook works in principle is covered in the article about dictating text on Mac.

Hyphen and slash by voice: Windows versus macOS

In the official punctuation table of Windows voice input, a hyphen is typed with the word “defis” (hyphen) or “znak minus” (minus sign), two variants of the same phrase for the mark -. A dash is a separate command “tire” (dash) with a different result, the long dash —. A slash is typed with the words “kosaya cherta” (slash), and the result is the mark /. All the phrases are confirmed for the Russian language of Win+H, which works only in Windows 11.

On macOS the commands are named similarly, but the result differs at the level of the dash symbol: “defis” types a short hyphen -, “tire” types a medium dash – (not as long as in Windows), and “kosaya cherta” types the mark /, the same as in Windows. The logic of pronunciation is the same on both systems: the command word is spoken where the mark should be, and before and after it there is ordinary text.

Without Windows 11 these commands cannot be typed by voice in Russian at all: Windows 10 has no Russian voice input. How to turn on voice input on a laptop, if it is not yet running, is covered in a separate guide on starting voice typing.

Where Potok has its limit

Potok (potok.now) has no voice commands at all, including a separate phrase for a hyphen or a slash: such a command simply does not exist there. Potok is a cloud service, speech recognition happens on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. The free limit of words per week may not be enough for someone who dictates all day, and then you need a plan without a limit.

Frequently asked questions

Built-in dictation and Potok

Primary sources: support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com · support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com