# How would you say this (sentence) out loud? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 13, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854 "2013-03-13T20:34:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/1 "2013-03-13T20:34:29Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/2 "2013-03-13T20:42:20Z")
I would say the word “sentence”, with a slight pause before and after it. ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/3 "2013-03-13T20:49:02Z")
What’s the context? ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/4 "2013-03-13T21:01:41Z")
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?” ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/5 "2013-03-13T21:11:44Z")
I would pause almost like I was doing the “air quotes”. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/6 "2013-03-13T21:56:56Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > 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’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. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/7 "2013-03-13T23:17:02Z")
“How would you say this \ sentence in parentheses \ 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. ---
**Author:** ![Grey\_area](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Grey\_area](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey_area)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/8 "2013-03-13T23:36:49Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/9 "2013-03-14T02:53:49Z")
> [@Jormungandr](#): > > What’s the context? 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. ---
**Author:** ![midnight-dreary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@midnight-dreary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/midnight-dreary)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/10 "2013-03-14T03:12:44Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/11 "2013-03-14T03:23:34Z")
“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. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/12 "2013-03-14T03:53:38Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/13 "2013-03-14T04:10:05Z")
This just in: Four men were shot in Pennebuckle, New Jersey. Police arrested Harvey Smyth in relation to the crime. Seventeen bullet shells were found at the crime scene. (Harvey) Smyth could not be reached for comment. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/14 "2013-03-14T04:45:50Z")
I’m with **Suburban Plankton** back in post #2. > [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I would say the word “sentence”, with a slight pause before and after it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/15 "2013-03-14T08:28:40Z")
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, … " ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/16 "2013-03-14T08:57:32Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > And I’d say “sennance” with a barely disernable “d.” Really? You’d replace the “t” with a “d”? ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/17 "2013-03-14T10:37:40Z")
I would read every word and wonder why the superfluous parentheses. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/18 "2013-03-14T14:11:38Z")
I would say it like William Shatner. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/19 "2013-03-14T14:31:19Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854/20 "2013-03-14T14:51:57Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-say-this-sentence-out-loud/652854.md?page=2)