Sentences Tellendar understands: examples

Updated October 8, 2026

Tellendar has no form to fill in. You type or dictate a sentence, such as "Dentist Thursday at 3pm, alarm 1 hour before", and the app works out the title, the date, the time, the duration, the repeat and the alarms. Here are examples of sentences that work, in everyday English, and what the app does with each.

A few simple rules

• One sentence, one appointment. The title is what is left once the date, time, duration, repeat and alarm are taken out. "Lunch with Camille tomorrow at 1pm" gives "Lunch with Camille".
• A named day, "Thursday", means the next Thursday. With no date, it is today, or tomorrow if that time has already passed.
• A time without a duration gives a one-hour appointment. No time at all gives an all-day event.
• "Morning" starts at 9am, "afternoon" at 2pm, "evening" at 7pm.
• If you don't ask for an alarm, the app doesn't add one. It offers you one, without forcing it.

A simple appointment

• "Dentist Thursday at 3pm"
• "Dinner at Sophie's tomorrow at 8pm"
• "Lunch with the team next Friday at 1"
• "Quick sync at 3pm": today, or tomorrow if it is already past 3pm.
• "Coffee with Sam tomorrow morning": tomorrow at 9am.
• "Coffee with Dana Friday at half past ten"
• "Call the plumber Tuesday no wait Thursday at 11": when dictating, the correction wins. It is Thursday.
• "um lunch with Priya uh Wednesday at twelve thirty": hesitations don't get in the way.

Duration, time range, all day

• "Design workshop Friday from 9:30 to 12:00"
• "Safety training Tuesday at 9am for 3 hours"
• "Call with legal Wednesday at noon for 20 minutes"
• "30-minute call with Sam tomorrow at 2pm"
• "Night shift Saturday from 10pm to 2am": it runs into Sunday without you saying so.
• "Julie's birthday on September 14": an all-day event.
• "Holiday in Biarritz from August 10 to August 17": several whole days.
• "Gallery opening on February 14 at 7pm" said in December: that is February 14 of the following year.

Alarms

Tellendar only warns you with alarms, which ring even in silent mode. Whether you say "alarm", "remind me", "notify me" or "ping me", the result is the same: an alarm.

• "Dentist Tuesday at 11am with an alarm 15 minutes before"
• "Dentist Tuesday at 11am, remind me half an hour before"
• "Flight to Lisbon Thursday at 6:30am, notify me 45 minutes before"
• "Lea's birthday on September 12, remind me the day before"
• "Parcel pickup Saturday at 10am, remind me the evening before"
• "Catch the 7:05 train Friday, alarm at 6:15": an alarm at a fixed time, the same day.
• "Passport renewal on October 20, remind me a week before"
• "Investor meeting October 15 at 9am, remind me the night before at 6pm and an hour before": two alarms on the same appointment.
• "Budget meeting Monday at 10am, no reminder"

More in the guides How to make your iPhone ring for an appointment, even in silent mode and Why you miss calendar alerts on iPhone.

Appointments that repeat

• "Yoga every Tuesday at 8am"
• "Workout every Monday and Thursday at 6:30pm"
• "Gym every weekday at 6:45am"
• "Veg box delivery every other Thursday at 10am"
• "English class every two weeks on Wednesday at 7pm"
• "Building meeting on the 15th of every month at 6pm"
• "Monthly report on the first Monday of the month at 10am"
• "Team retro on the last Friday of the month at 4pm"
• "Paul's birthday every year on May 3"
• "Take the medication every day at 8am"

A series can have a start and an end:

• "Yoga every Monday at 9am starting September 7"
• "Italian class weekly on Thursday at 7pm for 10 sessions"
• "Coding practice every day at 6pm until September 30"
• "Training every Monday at 9am through the end of the year"

One limit: Tellendar doesn't repeat an appointment several times within a day. "Take the drops every two hours" becomes a daily appointment. The guide Recurring appointments covers repeats in detail.

Changing an appointment with a sentence

Each appointment has its own conversation. One more sentence, and the appointment changes. No need to say again what it is about.

• "Move the dinner to 6pm"
• "Actually make it Friday"
• "Push it out by two days"
• "Start it half an hour earlier"
• "Extend it until 8:45am"
• "Rename it to Dinner with Sarah"
• "Make it an all day event"
• "Add an alarm 30 minutes before"
• "Set the alarm half an hour earlier"
• "Remove all the reminders"
• "Repeat this dinner every week"
• "Make it every other Monday"
• "Move it to the last Friday of the month"
• "End the series on September 30"
• "Stop it after 6 occurrences"
• "Stop repeating it"
• "Rename it to Aurora steering and move it to 3pm": two changes in one sentence.

On a series, a sentence changes this appointment and all the following ones. To change a single date, open the appointment's detail sheet. To delete an appointment, use the menu on its card: that is not a sentence.

What Tellendar doesn't understand

• A sentence with no appointment in it. "Add milk to the shopping list", a question, or "that thing with Camille sometime soon": the app says it didn't understand.
• Two appointments in one sentence. "Dentist Friday at 2pm and groceries Friday at 5pm" only creates the dentist. Use two sentences.
• A past event. "Summarize last Tuesday's meeting" is not an appointment.
• Location and notes. Tellendar doesn't file them separately: "Dinner tomorrow at 8pm at 12 Rue de la Paix" keeps the address in the title.

Frequently asked questions