Controlling Dictation Spelling

Generally no, but there may be a way to at least get your name correctly spelled. Open you contact, tap Edit (top right), scroll to the bottom and tap the plus sign next to "add field", tap Phonetic First Name, In this field type "Allison", tap Done (top right). Now go back and try dictating your name again and see if your name is spelled correctly this time.

The solution I offered will only work when referencing the names of specific contacts. I assumed that that was what your were trying to do. There is no way to teach the dictation engine specific spellings for names or other words in general.

The only other option is to assign a shortcut to the name 'Alison'. Settings>General>Keyboard>Shortcuts>Add New Shortcut> you can assign an obscure number, symbol or letter.

I was having the same issue. As you said, double-tapping on the dictated e-mail causes Mail to launch and then you can use "suggest" to get the spelling you want - after you correct it a few times, it will become the default spelling. (It did for me, anyway.)

I, too, am having this issue with my daughter's name when dictating. Siri knows that "Cate" is my daughter and she always gets it right for commands like "call Cate," or "text Cate..." However, in dictation, Siri alternates between "Kate," "Cake," and "care," but never "Cate."

I'm having the exact same challenge. My son is Jareth, and I get Jared consistently. Also Carren and Care En and Jar ET and all sorts of whacko things that aren't anywhere near his name. I've typed in a nickname for him and also phoenetic spelling .... nothing works.

My husband says: "That's what we get for naming him something that is just 1 character in a movie 1 time years ago." (Honestly, we had never heard of the movie until after our son was born, though.)

Other things I've gotten:

Jerris Gerace Jerres

By the way, I just typed "Jared" in the Phoenetic name field; and these are the three choices it gave me for spelling. 😟

Message was edited by: Jareths Mommy

I've been having a similar problem and came up with a clumsy but effective solution. I want to teach dictation the word "kombucha" (don't ask). I created a keyboard shortcut with a random word as the shortcut: "swanky". So now, when I want to dictate "kombucha", I say I shortened form of the word ( missing just the last letter) "swank", then I just go and type a "y" at the end, and dictation correct the word.

I realize this is an old thread, but I don't see a valid solution in the replies, so I'll provide my workaround here. In my case, I wanted to dictate a word that wasn't in Siri's vocabulary (Capoeira -- the martial arts/dance activity). I kept getting weird word combinations whenever I dictated this word. So I created a contact with the name "Capoeira" (and no other information), opened Contacts and went to the contact, long-pressed the home button to activate Siri, and told Siri "Learn how to pronounce". Siri asked me how I pronounce "Capoeira". I then spoke the word, selected the option I preferred from the pronunciation options I was presented, and from that moment on, I can dictate "Capoeira" and it spells it exactly as I spelled it in the contact...

This advice was very helpful in having my iPhone learn the name of my hometown, and I just dictated it and it came out correctly! I've got an iPhone 7. The one thing I want to mention is that Siri did not like "Learn how to pronounce." I had to say, "Learn how to pronounce this contact."

ah, with one person (contact) I had to say, "Learn how to pronounce the name Joe Smith" not just "Learn how to pronounce this contact"

I got Siri to spell my daughters name correctly but telling Siri I didn't like the way she spelled it.