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Speech to text can be used to create a verbatim transcript of the audio; however, some content is not documented in the same manner as it is verbalized. The formatting features provide control over how key information should for represented in the textual output.

Feature availability:

/transcribe

/stream

/transcripts

Notes:
  • Defining formatting in configuration is optional. When these preferences are not configured, the default values listed below will be applied automatically.
  • Feature availability by language is available here.
  • There are some terms (e.g., homophones) that will be disambiguated by the language model to determine if the symbol or the word should be inserted based on the context. Improvements on this front expected to continue.

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Formatting Options

The tables below show available enum options for each formatting configuration option.
The options marked as Default indicates how output is formatted when no parameter is set.The Date and Time options indicated as locale will format according to local standards, dependent on the primaryLanguage defined in the configuration.

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Dates

Date formatting allows for standardization of date output when dictating the year, month, and/or day. In the table below, the examples for each option indicate how the date would be formatted for spoken form showed in the as_dictated option.
OptionFormatExampleDefault
as_dictatedAs dictated”February third twenty twenty five"
"February third"
"February twenty twenty five”
locale:longLong date”February 3, 2025"
"February 3"
"February 2025”
locale:mediumMedium date”Feb 3, 2025"
"Feb 3"
"Feb 2025”
locale:shortShort date”2/3/25"
"2/3"
"2/2025”
isoISO 8601”2025-02-03"
"02-03"
"2025-02”
The Date parameter options defined above are the go-forward standard; however, the following legacy date formatting parameter values remain supported by the API:
OptionFormatExample
as_dictatedPreserve spoken phrasing”February third twenty twenty five”
long_textLong date”3 February 2025”
eu_slashShort date (EU)“03/02/2025”
us_slashShort date (US)“02/03/2025”
iso_compactISO (basic, without separators)“20250302”

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Times

OptionFormatExampleDefault
as_dictatedAs dictated”eight o’clock"
"half past eight"
"eight thirty six PM”
locale12-hour”8:00 AM"
"8:30 AM"
"8:36 PM”
h2424-hour”08:00"
"08:30"
"20:36”
h1212-hour”8:00 AM"
"8:30 AM"
"8:36 PM”

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Numbers

OptionFormatExampleDefault
as_dictatedAs dictated”one, two… nine, ten, eleven
numerals_above_nineSingle digit as words, multi-digit as number”One, two… nine, 10, 11”
numeralsNumbers only”1, 2… 9, 10, 11”
Notes:
  • Localization of numbers applied automatically for thousands and decimal separators.
  • numerals_above_nine applies to integers: When using this value, all whole numbers less than ten will be formatted as words, and all decimal numbers will be formatted as numerals. Use as_dictated for decimal numbers to be output as words instead of numerals.
  • A maximum of three decimal places is supported at this time. Be sure to dictate the numbers after decimal individually. For example, “one point two five” (not one point twenty-five) will return “1.25”.

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Units and Measurements

OptionFormatExampleDefault
as_dictatedAs dictated”Millimeters, centimeters, inches; Blood pressure one twenty over eighty”
abbreviatedAbbreviated”mm, cm, in; BP 120/80”
  • Celsius (°C)
  • Fahrenheit (°F)
  • Kelvin (K)
  • Inch (in)
  • Meter (m)
  • Centimeter (cm)
  • Millimeter (mm)
  • Nanometer (nm)
  • Kilometer (km)
  • Gram (g)
  • Kilogram (kg)
  • Milligram (mg)
  • Microgram (mcg)
  • Nanogram (ng)
  • Pound (lb)
  • Ounce (oz)
  • Liter (L)
  • Milliliter (mL)
  • Deciliter (dL)
  • International unit (IU)
  • Milliequivalent (mEq)
  • Millimole (mmol)
  • Mole (mol)
  • Blood pressure (systole/diastole)
  • Beats per minute (BPM)
  • Respirations per minute (RPM)
  • Body mass index (BMI)
  • Percent (%)
  • Millimeters of mercury (mmHg)
  • Centimeters of water (cmH2O)
  • Per minute (#/min)
  • Nanogram per milliliter (ng/mL)
  • Milligram per deciliter (mg/dL)
  • Milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L)
  • Millimoles per liter (mmol/L)
  • Units per liter (U/L)
  • Pack years (pack-yrs)
Individual vertebrae (spoken form “letter number”)
  • C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7
  • T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8, T9, T10, T11, T12
  • L1, L2, L3, L4, L5
  • S1, S2, S3, S4, S5
Sequential, adjacent vertebrae (spoken form “letter number letter number”)
  • C1–C2, C2–C3, C3–C4, C4–C5, C5–C6, C6–C7
  • C7–T1
  • T1–T2, T2–T3, T3–T4, T4–T5, T5–T6, T6–T7, T7–T8, T8–T9, T9–T10, T10–T11, T11–T12
  • T12–L1
  • L1–L2, L2–L3, L3–L4, L4–L5
  • L5–S1
  • S1–S2, S2–S3, S3–S4, S4–S5
Staging for cancer, chronic kidney disease, etc. ()“spoken form” -> written form)
  • “stage zero” -> Stage 0
  • “stage one” -> Stage I
  • “stage one A” -> Stage IA
  • “stage one B” -> Stage IB
  • “stage one C” -> Stage IC
  • “stage two” -> Stage II
  • “stage two A” -> Stage IIA
  • “stage two B” -> Stage IIB
  • “stage two C” -> Stage IIC
  • “stage three” -> Stage III
  • “stage three A” -> Stage IIIA
  • “stage three B” -> Stage IIIB
  • “stage three C” -> Stage IIIC
  • “stage four” -> Stage IV
  • “stage four A” -> Stage IVA
  • “stage four B” -> Stage IVB
  • “stage four C” -> Stage IVC
See examples below for more information on how numbers and measurements/units configurations work together

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Numeric Ranges

OptionFormatExampleDefault
as_dictatedAs dictated”one to ten”
numeralsAs numbers”1-10”
Note: Numeric range formatting supported for integers only (not numbers with decimals).

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Ordinals

OptionFormatExampleDefault
as_dictatedAs dictated”First, second, third”
numerals_above_nineFirst through ninth as words, multi-digit as number”First, second … ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th”
numeralsAbbreviated”1st, 2nd, 3rd”

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Examples

The following examples show expected output given different combinations of formatting configurations.
“the injury was sustained on fifth of February twenty twenty six and surgical repair was completed on February tenth two thousand twenty six”
DatesExpected OutputDefault
locale:long”the injury was sustained on February 5, 2026 and surgical repair was completed on February 10, 2026”
locale:medium”the injury was sustained on Feb 5, 2026 and surgical repair was completed on Feb 10, 2026”
locale:short”the injury was sustained on 2/5/26 and surgical repair was completed on 2/10/26”
as_dictated”the injury was sustained on fifth of February twenty twenty six and surgical repair was completed on February tenth two thousand twenty six”
Notice that, while using locale parameters, the date output is normalized for two different spoken form patterns in the example text
“zero two zero three twenty twenty five”
DatesExpected OutputDefault
locale:long”zero two zero three 20 25” />
locale:medium”zero two zero three 20 25”
locale:short”zero two zero three 20 25”
as_dictated”zero two zero three 20 25”
Dictation of numbers to be shown in “short” date form is not supported. In this example the expected output is based on default numbers:numerals_above_nine formatting.For text to be formatted as a date, dictate the month, day, year pattern as shown above.
“the child had one doctor visit today and is one meter tall”
NumbersMeasurementsExpected OutputDefault
numerals_above_nineabbreviated”the child had one doctor visit today and is 1 m tall”
numerals_above_nineas_dictated”the child had one doctor visit today and is one meter tall”
numeralsabbreviated”the child had 1 doctor visit today and is 1 m tall”
numeralsas_dictated”the child had 1 doctor visit today and is one meter tall”
as_dictatedabbreviated”the child had one doctor visit today and is 1 m tall”
as_dictatedas_dictated”the child had one doctor visit today and is one meter tall”
“one eighty centimeters”
NumbersMeasurementsExpected OutputDefault
numerals_above_nineabbreviated”180 cm”
numerals_above_nineas_dictated”180 centimeters”
numeralsabbreviated”180 cm”
numeralsas_dictated”180 centimeters”
as_dictatedabbreviated”one eighty cm”
as_dictatedas_dictated”one eighty centimeters”
“one hundred eighty centimeters”
NumbersMeasurementsExpected OutputDefault
numerals_above_nineabbreviated”180 cm”
numerals_above_nineas_dictated”180 centimeters”
numeralsabbreviated”180 cm”
numeralsas_dictated”180 centimeters”
as_dictatedabbreviated”one hundred eighty cm”
as_dictatedas_dictated”one hundred eighty centimeters”
Notice that both forms of “hundreds” are normalized using numerals_above_nine and numerals
“ninety eight point two percent”
NumbersMeasurementsExpected OutputDefault
numerals_above_nineabbreviated”98.2%“
numerals_above_nineas_dictated”98.2 percent”
as_dictatedabbreviated”ninety-eight point two%“
as_dictatedas_dictated”ninety-eight point two percent”
“First time he tried he came in tenth place”
OrdinalExpected OutputDefault
numerals_above_nine”First time he tried he came in 10th place”
numerals”1st time he tried he came in 10th place”
as_dictated”First time he tried he came in tenth place”
“she vomited two to three times today”
numericRangesnumbersExpected OutputDefault
numeralsnumerals_above_nine”she vomited 2-3 times today”
numeralsnumbers”she vomited 2-3 times today”
numeralsas_dictated”she vomited 2-3 times today”
as_dictatednumerals_above_nine”she vomited two to three times today”
as_dictatednumbers”she vomited 2 to 3 times today”
as_dictatedas_dictated”she vomited two to three times today”
“one point five to two point five”
numericRangesnumbersExpected OutputDefault
numeralsnumerals_above_nine”1.5 to 2.5”
numeralsnumbers”1.5 to 2.5”
numeralsas_dictated”one point five to two point five”
as_dictatednumerals_above_nine”1.5 to 2.5”
as_dictatednumbers”1.5 to 2.5”
as_dictatedas_dictated”one point five to two point five”

While these examples are based on primaryLanguage:en, the same logic applies for other languages with formatting support. Please contact us for further assistance with formatting configuration.