Adding New Words, Phrases, and Sentences to Skritter

This guide will walk you through how to add new entries to Skritter and how to style each entry.

Skritter has over 1.1 million entries in our database, but that doesn't mean we have every word, phrase, or sentence you might want to study, yet!  This article will teach you how to add a new entry to the Skritter database using the website.

You cannot currently add new entries on the Skritter mobile apps, but you can add them on the website. Just log in on your computer or phone, find the list & section you want to add the new entry to, and type/copy the word into the input box. We'll help guide you through the rest!

How to Create a New Entry

When you attempt to add something that doesn't exist in the database yet, you have the option to create a new entry.

Click the " Add Entry" button and enter the reading and definition. Select "sentence" if you want to add a phrase or sentence to Skritter, and press the "Add Word" or "Add Sentence" button when you're done.

Chinese Style Guide

Pinyin

• Please follow the pinyin standard formatting, with one exception: do indicate tone sandhi on 不 and 一. Knowing when to put spaces, hyphens, etc., can be hard so don't worry about it too much, but err on the side of fewer spaces rather than more.
  
  Examples:
  澳门: "Ao4men2" - "Aomen (Macao)"
  平安街: "Ping2'an1 Jie2" - "Ping'an Avenue"
• Use tone numbers, use 5 for neutral tones, and use r5 for 「儿」if you want to include 儿化音.
  
  Examples:
  不在乎: "bu2 zai4hu5" - "not care; not mind"
  小孩儿: "xiao3hai2r5" - "child; kid"
• In multiple-character words, only put one pronunciation (the mainland standard if there are alternatives, please refer to 现代汉语词典 or Pleco), or contact us in-app from the corrections form if you're not sure!
  
  If there are two pronunciations with different meanings, and we really need both, add a note in the definition:
  
  想法: "xiang3fa5" - "idea; a way of thinking; opinion; (-fǎ: think of a way)"
• For single characters with multiple pronunciations, avoid adding rare readings (like from Unihan).
  
  We recommend adding the various pronunciations in order of importance. Separate definitions that pertain to different readings on new lines.
  
  Examples:
  行: " xing2, hang2" - "walk; be current; do; will do; okay¶
  row; place; a firm (Kangxi radical 144)"
• Use v instead of ü. 
  
  Example:
  女: " nv3" - "woman (Kangxi radical 38)"
• Words should not include any punctuation. If you need punctuation, it's probably not a word and should be turned into a sentence instead, for which punctuation is allowed. Grammar patterns are also sentences.

Definition

• Separate definitions with semicolons (except for when using newlines to match alternate character readings).
  
  Example: 
  处: "chu3, chu4" - "get along with; be in; deal with; punish¶
  place; department"
• Drop "to" on verbs unless it could then be a noun.
  
  Example:
  画画儿杯: "hua4hua4r5" - "to paint; to draw"
  查: "cha2" - "examine; investigate; to check"
• Use "(mw for...)" to indicate measure words.
  Example:
  杯: "bei1" - "cup; ( mw for drinks)"
• Don't add too many definitions--try to cover as much as you can in as few words as you can. Clarity beats completeness. Don't add all the rare senses from MDBG or its CC-CEDICT clones (like YellowBridge and Dict.cn). Try to avoid Unihan as it's crazy.
• Don't include surnames unless there isn't another useful meaning or they're really common. Do other names like this:
  
  Examples:
  汤姆: "Tang1mu3" - "Tom (a personal name)"
  爱因斯坦: "Ai4yin1si1tan3" - "Albert Einstein (1879-1955), famous German-born Swiss-U.S. physicist"
  帕兰卡: "Pa4lan2ka3" - "Palanka (a personal name)"
  马大为: "Ma3 Da4wei2" - "Ma Dawei (a personal name)"
  袁: "yuan2" - "surname Yuan"
• Don't include parts of speech. Since it would be tough to have them for all words, let's standardize on having them on no words. Try to include definitions that have the same parts of speech as the word being defined, instead, to indicate part of speech.
• Use "... (Kangxi radical 34)" to indicate radicals, or whatever that translates to in the source language.
• Make sure the definition doesn't contain any weird characters or formatting.

Japanese Style Guide

Kana / Kanji

• Entries can be entered in Kana / Kanji, however, Romaji isn't accepted.
  
  Examples:
  こんにちは
  今晩は
• In multiple-character words, only put one pronunciation (the standard if there are alternatives, or contact us in-app from the corrections form if you're not sure!
  
  If there are two pronunciations and we really need both, add a note in the definition:
• For single characters with multiple pronunciations, avoid adding rare readings.
• Words should not include any punctuation. If you need punctuation, it's probably not a word and should be turned into a sentence instead, for which punctuation is allowed. Grammar patterns are also sentences.

Definition

• Separate definitions with semicolons (except for when using newlines to match alternate character readings).
• Don't add too many definitions--try to cover as much as you can in as few words as you can. Clarity beats completeness.
• Don't include surnames unless there isn't another useful meaning or they're really common.
• Don't include parts of speech. Since it would be tough to have them for all words, let's standardize on having them on no words. Try to include definitions that have the same parts of speech as the word being defined, instead, to indicate part of speech.
• Make sure the definition doesn't contain any weird characters or formatting.

Questions? 

Email team@skritter.com for help! We've been contributing to the Skritter database for over 10 years, and are happy to field any questions you might have!

-Happy skrittering