# Do we talk in paragraphs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636 "2008-08-20T03:34:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/1 "2008-08-20T03:34:11Z")
I’ve been thinking (on and off) about this question since last week. I was at lunch reading a book and talking to a co-worker when I noticed that out conversation was proceeding quite differently than the story in the book. Why? So I began to try to compare spoken word to written. I learned that we do speak in sentences, generally, but I’m not sure whether or not we organize those sentences into paragraphs. It probably makes a difference whether the talk is solo, as an address, or two-way, as in a conversation. It’s obvious by now that grammar is not my strong point, so help me out. Puh-leese. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/2 "2008-08-20T11:03:02Z")
Both sentences and paragraphs are artificial constructs designed to make reading easier. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/3 "2008-08-20T13:22:55Z")
Of course we do. It has long been established that the universal organizational unit of a piece of writing is the paragraph. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/4 "2008-08-20T15:12:39Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] Of course we do. It has long been established that the universal organizational unit of a piece of **writing** is the paragraph. [/QUOTE] Bolding mine. Huh? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/5 "2008-08-20T15:27:41Z")
It’s going to depend on how well-organised your talk is. If you are chatting with a group of friends, you might not even speak in sentences. If you are giving a lecture in a classroom or a presentation at work, then you ought to be well-enough organised to be talking in paragraphs. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/6 "2008-08-20T15:47:34Z")
I do sometimes. It’s all about how prepared you are when you construct your arguments. Casual conversation is just a back and forth, but if you’re discussing something at length, and have the opportunity to express a detailed spiel, I think you’d find it can be broken up into paragraphs quite clearly. Pauses to think, or waiting for reactions, would be places for paragraph breaks, for example. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/7 "2008-08-20T17:24:33Z")
This is a fairly silly question, I think. A paragraph is a visual organizing principle that tends to hold similar concepts together in a larger context and that signals to readers a slight shift in focus. Even if we speak in fairly coherent ways, and even if we stick pretty much to a topic, it’s more than a little reach to suggest we speak in paragraphs. No one can see anything when we’re talking. You might just as well ask if we speak with capital letters or punctuation. These are orthographic conventions. While one could argue that we know where these conventions might occur in speech, they are not there. Ever hear Victor Borge’s punctuated speech? I imagine Youtube has it. xo, C. ---
**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/8 "2008-08-20T19:56:42Z")
This probably isn’t a GQ kind of answer, but I think to an extent it depends on the individuals and the situation. In business communication, I’d imagine the talk is more formal, more planned, and more structured. As **GuanoLad** says, informal chatting with friends would be a lot less structured. I think it also depends on the people involved. I have a couple of friends who not only don’t talk in paragraphs, they have the ability to change chapters almost in the middle of a sentence. With them, it’s always an adventure to figure out what the hell they’re talking about. I used to think it was just me, till I’d finally say something if we were in a group, and everyone else was wondering the same thing but was afraid to ask ;x ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/9 "2008-08-21T01:02:37Z")
[QUOTE=CC] This is a fairly silly question, I think. A paragraph is a visual organizing principle that tends to hold similar concepts together in a larger context and that signals to readers a slight shift in focus. [/QUOTE] That was a fairly rude answer, I think. When you learn to write, you learn that paragraphs organize your communication in way that goes far beyond the look of the text. A paragraph in expository writing should state a main idea as the topic sentence, then develop that idea. (Paragraphs in narrative writing may not follow that model because a story just flows along, it doesn’t necessarily make points. Paragraph breaks often then correspond to what might be a brief pause by a speaking narrator.) Writing meant to be heard and not read, such as a speech, is still organized into paragraphs, because it creates eloquence. Although the audience doesn’t see the organization laid out on a page, they certainly hear it. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/10 "2008-08-21T01:27:36Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Both sentences and paragraphs are artificial constructs designed to make reading easier. [/QUOTE] Writing itself is an artificial construct, is it not? Writing was (and still is) invented to preserve and share profound thought. And, of course, to impose one’s will on others at a distance. Language, on the other hand, grew out of experience. Early language was more democratic that writing. If cavemom is going to tell cavedad to bring back a nice fat T-Rex, you’re both going to need to know what that is. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/11 "2008-08-21T01:37:56Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] That was a fairly rude answer, I think. When you learn to write, you learn that paragraphs organize your communication in way that goes far beyond the look of the text. A paragraph in expository writing should state a main idea as the topic sentence, then develop that idea. (Paragraphs in narrative writing may not follow that model because a story just flows along, it doesn’t necessarily make points. Paragraph breaks often then correspond to what might be a brief pause by a speaking narrator.) Writing meant to be heard and not read, such as a speech, is still organized into paragraphs, because it creates eloquence. Although the audience doesn’t see the organization laid out on a page, they certainly hear it. [/QUOTE] That’s exactly what I’m asking. You have to call these groups of sentences something. Even our casual conversation is somewhat organized. If you were to tape record a conversation, then transcribe it, I think some would be surprised at how organized it is. there are even “rules” for talking. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/12 "2008-08-21T02:22:14Z")
I tend to be a very visual thinker. I’m a “gifted speller,” I’ve been told, and my theory as to why is that I’ve always thought in the written word; when I think a conscious thought, I see it written out in words in my mind’s eye. I often see sentences and paragraphs in much the same way. So, if this is a survey, put me down for yes; I frequently–usually–think in the same paragraphs that I would write in. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/13 "2008-08-21T03:22:42Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] That’s exactly what I’m asking. You have to call these groups of sentences something. Even our casual conversation is somewhat organized. If you were to tape record a conversation, then transcribe it, I think some would be surprised at how organized it is. there are even “rules” for talking. [/QUOTE] I think you might be surprised at how _dis_organized it can be. [Cite](http://nixon.archives.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/trial/exhibit_01.pdf) (PDF file). > [@](#): > > HALDEMAN: okay -that’s fine. Now, on the investigation, you know, the Democratic break-in thing, we’re back to the-in the, the problem area because the FBI is not under control, because Gray doesn’t exactly know how to control them, and they have, their investigation is now leading into some productive areas, because they’ve been able to trace the money, not through the money itself, but through the bank, you know, sources - the banker himself. And, and it goes in some directions we don’t want it to go. Ah, also there have been some things, like an informant came in off the street to the FBI in Miami, who was a photographer or has a friend who is a photographer who developed some films through this guy, Barker, and the films had pictures of Democratic National Committee letter head documents and things. So I guess, so it’s things like that that are gonna, that are filtering in. Mitchell came up with yesterday, and John Dean analyzed very carefully last night and concludes, concurs now with Mitchell’s recommendation that the only way to solve this, and we’re set up beautifully to do it, ah, in that and that…the only network that paid any attention to it last night was NBC…they did a massive story on the Cuban… > PRESIDENT: That’s right. > HALDEMAN: thing. > PRESIDENT: Right. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/14 "2008-08-21T13:38:15Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] That’s exactly what I’m asking. You have to call these groups of sentences something. Even our casual conversation is somewhat organized. If you were to tape record a conversation, then transcribe it, I think some would be surprised at how organized it is. there are even “rules” for talking. [/QUOTE] The notion that we speak in words or sentences or paragraphs is still based on our understanding of these notions as written entities. I would challenge anyone to listen to a totally foreign language and detect which sounds represent words, sentences, or paragraphs. The word “paragraph” itself comes from root words that refer to writing, not speaking. We don’t speak in paragraphs any more than we speak in capital letters when we speak loudly. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/15 "2008-08-21T14:32:59Z")
If we can speak in words, and we can speak in sentences, then we can speak in paragraphs. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/16 "2008-08-21T14:39:09Z")
I speak in granfalloons. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/17 "2008-08-21T16:25:12Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] If we can speak in words, and we can speak in sentences, then we can speak in paragraphs. [/QUOTE] I can understand how one might orally distinguish between words by careful enunciation, and between sentences with pauses. How you you, by voice alone, indicate a break between “paragraphs”? ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/18 "2008-08-21T16:31:34Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] I can understand how one might orally distinguish between words by careful enunciation, and between sentences with pauses. How you you, by voice alone, indicate a break between “paragraphs”? [/QUOTE] Again, I refer you to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4qii8S3gw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4qii8S3gw) for an idea. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/19 "2008-08-21T16:52:11Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Both sentences and paragraphs are artificial constructs designed to make reading easier. [/QUOTE] Paragraphs i can see, but _sentences_? Sure, if the average person saw a transcript of what they were saying, they might be in for a shock, but in general I think spoken language pays fairly good attention to proper grammatical form, including sentences. We tend to have subject, object, verb, and all the rest of it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636/20 "2008-08-21T17:25:50Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] We tend to have subject, object, verb, and all the rest of it. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but not always. ( 😃 ) Extemporaneous speech can have very little to do with clear construction, yet still be understood. It’s very interesting to look at a transcript of a company’s quarterly earnings release conference; the presentation is very structured and clear, since it’s basically a script. The moment you get into the question and answer part, though, and the company officers have to start speaking off the cuff, out comes the stuttering, sentence fragments, run-ons, incomplete thoughts, etc. When they take a moment to think, or speechify, there’s more structure to their answers, but back-and-forth dialogs can be hard to follow. Honestly, I’ve stopped trying to ‘read’ transcripts. (Not really my job anyway, I check for formatting and spelling primarily.) It can be very difficult to comprehend written speech, especially if the speaker isn’t experienced with public speaking. There’s all kinds of twists and turns and false starts that make it difficult to follow along. Interestingly, if you listen to the audio, it suddenly becomes much clearer; all those speech cues that don’t translate to the written word suddenly come out and it’s comprehensible all of a sudden. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-talk-in-paragraphs/460636.md?page=2)