Hi! Good evening here (yes it's over than midnigth actually in France...) I'm new on the forum and I have to ask you something. I am a french author, fantasy, scyfy, etc, and I am actually in the middle of translating in english (thank you Capitain Obvious) one of my novel. I've search on the web if someone have a answer to my question, but I didn't find a real yes or no answer so, I've decided to ask here as you have already (iwhtout knowing it) help me before. So! Could I use the terms 'er' or 'erm' in a middle of a setence when my character is hesitating? Like this setence from this book : “I’m sorry, could you repeat, I’ve not understood you request,” Tara said. “Sorry, Tara. Erm… Could you find me something really specific on your databases?” The italic is for an AI, and the setence next is from a real person. This is the first time I am facing that kind of "problem" if it is one, so I need to ask around. Thank you for any kind of response!
Sure, why not? You see "uh" and "huh" more frequently in fiction, but I suppose "er" and "erm" would be acceptable. I'd only use them sparingly, though. Those random phonetic utterances can get annoying in a hurry. So do other stylistic things is they're not styled enough.
People use them in conversations so there is no reason you can't. You could use hesitations of this type to give a character a distinct speaking voice.
Thank you so much. This book is nearly finished and this is the first time in more than 400 pages I use this "words" ^^ It was needed in this particular sentence, but maybe I'll find it would be usefull in another dialogues at the begining after correcting and rereading phase. Thank you to you all ^^
Think of them like Italics. Imagine you have exactly one to spend per book. You might be tempted to use them in a specialized capacity. Maybe looking to really hammer home the indecisiveness of a character, or going for a very specific tone. In which case more might be fine. Rules are made to be broken, after all. But, er, unless you really think it will add something. Erm... you probably ought not use them much. It slows dialogue down and can get on some readers nerves.
I'm trying to recall when I've heard someone say er or erm in genuine conversation and I can't think of a time. I don't use either myself. "Uhhhh..." or "mmmm..." are the usual terms of hesitation in my part of the sagebrush steppe.
The original poster is French—I think er and erm are more common in Europe and maybe Britain? I know I've seen both used, but I'm not sure where. I once had a conversation with an old black man who kept saying "umeruh" over and over, run together like it was all one word. And I mean, as often as a valley girl might say "Like." Just a heads up, this thread is from a year ago, and I haven't seen the poster since then.
Yeah. My general impression is that it's a very specialized tonal thing. Otherwise, it slows things down too much.
I don't use it often in writing. I'm not sure I ever have, actually, but I can't say I would never use something like um or er in dialog or even narrative. I think there are ways to make it work. Like @Racheakt it can slow things down. I imagine there are occasions when that is exactly what the writer wants to do. And in a way, when used correctly, things like this can even bring some texture into the writing.
I say yes, that's totally fine, because it's part of how people actually speak. When writing dialogue I think your first concern is to to accurately portray how that person is talking. As long as you're doing it deliberately you don't even need to use correct grammar, provided your character isn't, because that would be beside the point.
The fun (and challenge too) of writing dialogue, is that it doesn't always follow the same 'rules' when writing it. You want a character to have a 'voice' of his own - speech patterns, commonly repeated words or sounds, and even an accent can all say a lot about the character, and make him realistic on paper. I would say the most important thing is to simply keep it consistent. If this character tends to mutter 'erm' or 'er' when he's uneasy for example, then stick to that established pattern. if someone lives in Eastern Europe but is an American known well for his New York accent, it would certainly be strange if he suddenly sounded less like a New Yorker somewhere in the middle of a story without obvious reason.
i think it is really nice to, look at AI, it now says the same thing when spoken to. We are humans after all.
I have thoughts on this subject. For me creative writing does not necessarily need to follow rules directly, it just has to be aware of them, how to stretch them to suit the scene yet not drag the readers out. Dialogue; for me, is free form. People talk all sorts of ways, language, dialect, street - so to infringe strict rules on it, I always believed would diminish its feel. So the use of Er or Erhm in dialogue wouldn't faze me reading or writing if it fit the moment and character. Sledge
This, absolutely! Another way of looking at it is the speed of speech. When someone is talking very fast they don't usually stop to think about what they are saying the way they would with a more measured pace. So, even if you do stop with a quick "er" when talking quickly in real life, you probably would not when writing fast dialogue. Writing is, at the end of the day, a kind of performance art. The most accessible idea doesn't require a lot of thought from your audience to make it work. So, stick with the most direct way of speaking.
