"You bought a, err, llama?" or "You bought an, err, llama?"

Ken · Dec 21, 2011

... since "err" isn't officially part of the sentence, in a sense, I'm wondering if a/an should be in agreement with "llama." So "a" would be the correct choice, here, rather than "an," following that logic.

Thanks in advance.

Fallen · Dec 21, 2011

Sounds good like good logic to me.

CaroGirl · Dec 21, 2011

Sounds okay to me too. But "er" has only one R.

Ken · Dec 21, 2011

... thanks Fallen and CaroGirl. I never knew it only had one R. In my defense, "err" does not come up as an error when I type it in MS Word. I guess "err" means something else? (Goes to show that you can't always rely on SpellCheck.)

CaroGirl · Dec 21, 2011

Ken said:
... thanks Fallen and CaroGirl. I never knew it only had one R. In my defense, "err" does not come up as an error when I type it in MS Word. I guess "err" means something else? (Goes to show that you can't always rely on SpellCheck.)

To err is human.

(Ironically, it's a verb that means to make a mistake.)

Ken · Dec 21, 2011

CaroGirl said:
To err is human.

(Ironically, it's a verb that means to make a mistake.)

... ah. That clarifies the issue

Bufty · Dec 21, 2011

I think the 'er' adds nothing to the sentence.

Ken · Dec 21, 2011

Bufty said:
I think the 'er' adds nothing to the sentence.

... thanks Bufty. That was, er, helpful.

scarletpeaches · Dec 21, 2011

Ken said:
... since "err" isn't officially part of the sentence, in a sense, I'm wondering if a/an should be in agreement with "llama." So "a" would be the correct choice, here, rather than "an," following that logic.

Thanks in advance.

I would say 'an', because 'er' is part of the sentence. It's a meaningless insertion, but it's still there, and going from one vowel sound to another would catch in most speakers' throats.

Ken · Dec 21, 2011

scarletpeaches said:
I would say 'an', because 'er' is part of the sentence. It's a meaningless insertion, but it's still there, and going from one vowel sound to another would catch in most speakers' throats.

... thanks. You've got a point there.

I guess parenthetical remarks would be another matter:
"You bought a (er) llama." (Just an example. Not grammatical, I know.)
The parenthesis clearly place 'er' outside the sentence.

scarletpeaches · Dec 21, 2011

The thing is, it isn't outside the sentence. If the person says it, it's part of their speech, grammatical or not. People don't often speak in grammatically perfect sentences, after all.

Unless they're Stephen Fry.

Susan Coffin · Dec 21, 2011

An due to the "er." Otherwise, it would be a (a llama).

brianjanuary · Dec 21, 2011

I would write:

"You bought a...llama?"

MttStrn · Dec 21, 2011

brianjanuary said:
I would write:

"You bought a...llama?"

+1

I think this sounds funnier and more realistic.

You could also do it as: "You bought...a llama?"

IceCreamEmpress · Dec 21, 2011

You wouldn't say "an", because you would be expecting "llama" to come next, not "er".

(This is presuming you're pronouncing "llama" in the Anglicized manner, of course.)

I don't love the "er" at all, though. I think the ellipsis or "You bought what? A llama?" or something else is stronger.

backslashbaby · Dec 21, 2011

If the character says er a lot, the er makes sense. I'd ask that charcter if he knows he's saying er. If it's unconscious, no an, imho. If he is consciously using er (buying time to think of the word?), put it as an. Just my 2 cents

kimberlycreates · Dec 21, 2011

scarletpeaches said:
I would say 'an', because 'er' is part of the sentence. It's a meaningless insertion, but it's still there, and going from one vowel sound to another would catch in most speakers' throats.

I'd disagree with this. If you diagrammed this sentence (do they even teach this in school anymore?) "a" is an article that describes "llama." "Er" is an interjection. The interjection isn't even a direct part of the sentence, any more than a yawn or a sneeze would be if either of those came between "a" and "llama."

Even speaking it, the interjection is a stumble. The speaker would already be forming "a llama" in her head, not "an er llama."

Bufty · Dec 21, 2011

Er in dialogue is plain silly.

Have I used it? Yes, but no more. Why? Because it's silly, looks odd, and I don't think it's as effective as one thinks it is.

backslashbaby said:
If the character says er a lot, the er makes sense. I'd ask that charcter if he knows he's saying er. If it's unconscious, no an, imho. If he is consciously using er (buying time to think of the word?), put it as an. Just my 2 cents

Brindle MacWuff · Dec 21, 2011

Yes, I've bought a bloody a llama. Now, get off my yacht.

Xelebes · Dec 21, 2011

My rule on this is that if the initial thought began with a vowel, then it gets an "an". If the initial thought began with a consonant, then it gets an "a".

In your case, if he originally thought of describing what he bought as an alpaca, then use "an." If he was checking to make sure what he saw was a llama, then use "a." Logical, really.

backslashbaby · Dec 21, 2011

Bufty said:
Er in dialogue is plain silly.

Have I used it? Yes, but no more. Why? Because it's silly, looks odd, and I don't think it's as effective as one thinks it is.

So no characters that say er, even though some folks have that bad habit? I can agree with that, really. Do you feel the same way about um?

thebloodfiend · Dec 21, 2011

backslashbaby said:
So no characters that say er, even though some folks have that bad habit? I can agree with that, really. Do you feel the same way about um?

Or "uh" or "eh". If "er" fits the character, it fits. And I agree with backslashbaby's previous post. If it was unconscious, go with "a". If it was conscious, go with "an". But no-one -- except for me, of course -- strives to have perfect grammar every time they speak.

I think the ellipses look better, but it's your story. For one person, "er" might look silly, for another, the ellipses look silly. Hell, I've had people on this very forum tell me that ellipses were supposed to indicate omitted words, not pauses.

blacbird · Dec 21, 2011

brianjanuary said:
I would write:

"You bought a...llama?"

Add my agreement to this. The ellipsis serves every purpose of the cheesy "err" (or "umm" or whatever), and doesn't stick out.

caw

Ken · Dec 21, 2011

... thanks for the feedback, everybody.

Interesting take, Backslash.
I think I'm going to go with what Kimberly says.
From a grammatical standpoint that registers.

As to my sentence, I probably should have stated that it was just an example.
I came up with it on the spot when I was creating this thread and didn't give it much thought since I was only using it for purposes of demonstration. Sorry if that created any confusion. If I were including a sentence like that in a story I'd probably go with ellipses, too, as suggested.

Ken · Dec 21, 2011

Xelebes said:
My rule on this is that if the initial thought began with a vowel, then it gets an "an". If the initial thought began with a consonant, then it gets an "a".

In your case, if he originally thought of describing what he bought as an alpaca, then use "an." If he was checking to make sure what he saw was a llama, then use "a." Logical, really.

... very logical, indeed

"You bought a, err, llama?" or "You bought an, err, llama?"

Ken

Fallen

Stood at the coalface

CaroGirl

Living the dream

Ken

CaroGirl

Living the dream

Ken

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

Ken

scarletpeaches

Ken

scarletpeaches

Susan Coffin

Tell it like it Is

brianjanuary

MttStrn

Action is my reward..that and bacon

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago

backslashbaby

*

kimberlycreates

insert witty title here

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

Brindle MacWuff

Xelebes

Delerium ex Ennui

backslashbaby

*

thebloodfiend

Cory

blacbird

Ken

Ken

"You bought a, err, llama?" or "You bought an, err, llama?"

Stood at the coalface

Living the dream

Living the dream

Where have the last ten years gone?

Tell it like it Is

Action is my reward..that and bacon

Hapless Virago

~~~~*~~~~

insert witty title here

Where have the last ten years gone?

Delerium ex Ennui

~~~~*~~~~

Cory

*

*