Would you say the word “sentence”? Would you change your tone of voice while doing so? Put in a little pause? Or just skip it altogether?
I would say the word “sentence”, with a slight pause before and after it.
What’s the context?
If I were just reading it blind, I’d go “How would you read this, and the there’s the word “sentence” in parentheses, out loud?”
I would pause almost like I was doing the “air quotes”.
I’d say it as “How would you say this (sentence) out loud?”
What?
OK, OK, probably hold up my hands to form parentheses, with a little pause before and after “sentence”. Assuming I was saying it to a person who could see me.
“How would you say this <pause> sentence in parentheses <pause> out loud?”
I would probably also make an inflection on the words “in parentheses” and probably make parentheses with my hands while saying it if the person I was speaking could see me.
I’d read it as if the word “sentence” was between commas. I.e. “How would you say this, sentence, out loud.” I think it would come out like a Christopher Walken impression.
Good question. Suppose you’re quoting from a text and you want to relate it accurately. Say, reading part of a textbook to an audience.
I ask because I once heard a guy blow right past the parens and read the word as if they weren’t there.
Myself, I would give little pauses and lower the pitch and amplitude just a little bit.
How would you say this -pause- sentence -pause- out loud.
I would also use hand signals. probably just hold my hands up, almost like making ( ) signs with my hands.
“How would you say this”, run offstage and say “sentence”, run back on stage and say “out loud?”
But seriously, if it were a real sentence I would kind of turn my head a little and say “sentence” a little to the side.
No pause or air quotes. How would you say this sentence? Straight-forward question. More than one? I’d stress this.
And I’d say “sennance” with a barely disernable “d.”
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I’m with Suburban Plankton back in post #2.
I would probably say:
“How would you say this, that is, this sentence, out loud?”
In other words, I pronounce an open parenthesis as "that is, … "
Really? You’d replace the “t” with a “d”?
I would read every word and wonder why the superfluous parentheses.
I would say it like William Shatner.
It does depend on context. In a novel or story, I would probably treat the parentheses almost like commas and simply pause slightly before and after, probably giving the word “sentence” a lower pitch as well. But if it was a technical document, and accuracy was very important, I’d probably go with “How would you say this open brackets sentence close brackets out loud?” - again with the appropriate inflections of pitch and volume.
I’d change the wording.
“How would you say this - sentence - out loud?” is an ambiguous statement. It’s very likely to be misheard as “How would you say this sentence out loud?”.
Instead, I’d say “How would you say the following out loud? ‘Sentence’.”
If you find yourself working that hard to avoid verbal ambiguities, it’s best to reword what you’re saying.