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Saturday
Jul102010

“Well, let me see... I have water? Sprite? beer?”

You have visitors at your house. You offered them something to drink. They asked what you have, so you answer:

Well, let me see... I have water? Sprite? beer?

well,

One reason to start your sentence with "well" is because you're answering a question but you're not sure what to say.

let me see

You say "let me see" when you're trying to remember something, or when you're checking on a computer or a piece of paper for information. For example, when you're calling to make an appointment for a dentist, you may hear:

A: Would it be possible to make an appointment for some time this week?

B: Let me see... we have an opening on Tuesday at noon. Would that work?

The receptionist says "let me see" while he searches the computer for available times.

(choice #1)? (choice #2)? (choice #3)...

When you're asking people to choose from among several options, you pronounce each choice as a question:

What is your problem? Are you sleepy? Hungry? Do you need your diaper changed?

You can use question intonation for each choice even if the sentence isn't really a question. The phrase at top is an example of this.

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