How to Add Words to iPhone Dictation (What Actually Works)

Short answer: Apple doesn't document a way to add words to standard iPhone dictation. What you can do: say the spelling out loud, fix the word by tapping, keep names in Contacts, or use Voice Control's Vocabulary setting, which only applies while Voice Control is on. A keyboard with its own personal dictionary is the only route that teaches new words to dictation itself.

You dictate a product name, a drug, a client's surname or a bit of company jargon, and iPhone dictation turns it into something else. So you go looking for the place to teach it the word. There isn't one that Apple documents. If you want to add words to iPhone dictation, the honest answer is that standard dictation has no dictionary you can edit. A few things help, and each one has limits.

This post covers each workaround, what Apple actually says about it, and where it stops working. We checked Apple's pages on October 30, 2026, when the current version was iOS 27.

Why you can't add a word to iPhone dictation

Apple's guide to dictating text on iPhone covers turning Dictation on, Auto-Punctuation, line breaks, spelling and editing. It doesn't mention a custom vocabulary, an "add word" button or an import option.

So if a tip tells you to add words to a dictation list in Settings, check it against Apple's guide first, because Apple doesn't describe one. Where a workaround below depends on something Apple doesn't document, we say so instead of presenting it as a fix.

What you can do instead

Here are the options, from the one Apple documents most clearly to the ones that only help in certain cases.

1. Spell the word out as you dictate

This is the one thing Apple explicitly gives you for unusual words. In the dictation guide, the example is: say something like "Let's invite Steven S-T-E-P-H-E-N". The idea is that the letters you spell set how the name is written. It suits a name you only use once or twice.

It doesn't scale. You'd have to spell the same brand name every time you use it, and it breaks your flow. We go through it in more detail in our guide to spelling words while dictating.

2. Fix the word by voice or by tap

For a word that's already wrong, Apple's guide gives a spelling correction: say something like "Change tea to T-E-E". Apple's commands list puts "Change … to …" with the editing commands, which it says are available in U.S. English on iPhone 12 and later, except iPhone SE. On other languages or models, plan on fixing the word by hand.

The keyboard also stays open while you dictate, so you can tap the wrong word, place the cursor and type the right one without leaving dictation. That's a fix for one instance, not something dictation remembers. Our post on editing dictated text shows the quickest ways.

3. Keep names in Contacts

Apple's privacy page for Siri and Dictation says your device may use contact names, nicknames and relationships, "if you set them up in your contacts", and that this helps it "recognize what you say". So for people's names, a contact card is worth having.

What Apple doesn't say is that adding a contact makes dictation spell that name your way. It says only that contact names may be used to help. Treat it as a nudge, not a guarantee. If a name keeps going wrong, see how to stop dictation changing names.

4. Text Replacement, with a caveat

Text Replacement lives at Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement. You tap the Add button, enter a phrase and a shortcut, and tap Save. Apple describes it for typing: when you enter the shortcut in a text field, your chosen word or phrase replaces it.

Apple says nothing about dictation here. It doesn't say whether a shortcut expands when you speak it, so we can't tell you it works. You can test it in a few seconds with a replacement you already have, or a new one, by dictating the shortcut into Notes. If it expands, you have a cheap way to produce a long term. If it doesn't, you've lost nothing.

Apple also documents a related trick for typing: add a word as the phrase and leave the Shortcut field blank, so autocorrect stops changing it. That's for typed text, and Apple doesn't say it influences dictation.

5. Voice Control's Vocabulary, only while Voice Control is on

This one is real, but it comes with a big condition. At Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control, Apple lists a Vocabulary option: "Teach Voice Control to recognize new words and phrases". You can enter a word and teach it how you pronounce it, or import a list. Apple adds that not all Voice Control languages support a custom vocabulary.

Here's the catch. Apple says that when Voice Control is on, "you use Voice Control to dictate text; standard iOS Dictation isn't available". So the vocabulary belongs to Voice Control's way of dictating, which is built for controlling the phone by voice. Apple doesn't say it changes what standard dictation types. If you don't need Voice Control, it's a heavy route for a few words.

What none of these fix

Put together, the position is this. Spelling and tapping fix a word once. Contacts may help with names. Text Replacement and Voice Control are partial at best. Nothing in Apple's documentation lets you say "always recognize this word" for the normal dictation button, and that's the thing you came here for.

If your problem is more general, with ordinary words coming out wrong, the cause is probably different. Our post on inaccurate dictation and wrong words covers that. And for letter-heavy terms, there's a guide to dictating acronyms and abbreviations.

How to get the best result from what Apple gives you

1. Check Settings > General > Keyboard > Enable Dictation. Then dictate with the keyboard for the language you're speaking. Apple says that when you use a keyboard for another language, you can use Dictation in that language as well.
2. Add people to Contacts with the spelling you want, including nicknames, so there's something for your iPhone to use.
3. Try a Text Replacement at Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement for long terms you type often, then test whether it expands when you dictate it.
4. Spell the word the first time it appears in a document. Later mentions in the same message are easier to fix with one tap than to re-dictate.
5. If you want your entries on your other devices, Apple's shorthand page says to open Settings, tap your name, tap iCloud, tap See All, tap iCloud Drive, then turn on Sync this iPhone. Apple calls this syncing your personal dictionary.

Where Voice Keyboard Pro fits

If you add terms often, the missing piece is a dictionary that belongs to the dictation itself. Voice Keyboard Pro is an iPhone keyboard with the microphone built in, and it has a personal dictionary that learns names and jargon. It can also import names from your Contacts, so people you already know don't have to be taught one by one.

It isn't a promise that every unusual word will come out right on the first try, and it won't help in apps that block third-party keyboards. You add the keyboard in Settings and turn on Allow Full Access, which our Full Access guide explains. Because iOS doesn't let keyboards use the microphone directly, tapping Speak may briefly open the Voice Keyboard Pro app to start listening, and then you're back in your app. For how this works on the Mac side, see custom vocabulary that learns your words.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a dictionary for iPhone dictation?

Not one Apple documents for standard dictation. Auto-Correction uses your keyboard dictionary when you type, and Apple's shorthand page describes a personal dictionary that syncs through iCloud, but Apple doesn't say dictation reads from either. The documented ways to handle an odd word are spelling it out and correcting it.

Can I add a word to Siri dictation?

Apple doesn't describe a way to add a word to Siri or standard dictation. Contact names may be used to help recognize what you say. Voice Control has a Vocabulary setting, but only for Voice Control.

Will iPhone dictation learn my words over time?

Apple's privacy page says personalized speech recognition happens on your device and not on Apple servers, using your on-device information. It doesn't say how quickly or which words, so don't count on a specific word being learned.

How do I change the spelling of a dictated word?

Say something like "change tea to T-E-E", or tap the word and type it. The voice command for edits is limited to U.S. English on iPhone 12 and later, except iPhone SE.

Why does dictation keep changing a name I added?

Apple doesn't document whether Auto-Correction or Text Replacement act on dictated text, but both are worth ruling out. Our post on stopping dictation changing names lists the settings to check.

The bottom line

You can't add words to standard iPhone dictation, because Apple doesn't offer a way. You can spell a word as you say it, fix it by voice or tap, keep names in Contacts, and use Voice Control's Vocabulary if you're already in Voice Control. For a dictionary that really learns your jargon, you need a keyboard that keeps its own.