The writing prompt was “That was funny”. I had some fun with a computer and reading sentences.
Say that again?
When you read your writing to yourself, your brain sometimes puts in words that aren’t there but fit the sentence you thought you wrote, so you don’t pick up that you misspelled a word or put the wrong word in. It helps to have someone else read your piece aloud to you so that you can pick up on those errors. I used to do that with some of my students to see if they could identify their mistakes. I didn’t do this often.
In the age of technology, some writers have a computer read text to them. Have you tried that? It helps to hear your work so you can correct your mistakes. I’ve tried that a few times, but the computer lacks the feeling of the work, so there is usually no emphasis, where needed, in the piece.
Then there is the other obstacle that computers reading sentences have to deal with – heteronyms. Heteronyms are words that are spelled the same but sound and mean different things. I decided years ago to put my computer to the test. I gave it a number of sentences, each containing two words that made sense in the sentence if read correctly, but were pronounced differently. I wanted to see how well the computer did. I’ve tested those same sentences over the years and have added more to the list as I think of them, and I will say that computers are getting better, at least Apple devices are, but they’re still not perfect. It’s a fun thing to try.
Here is a list of the sentences that I have found so far. Feel free to add more to them if you can think of any.
I had to present to Congress the day they gave me my birthday present.
The book I had to read was read by Thursday
I had to polish up my Polish before the visitor came.
I was going to address the audience about what each person’s address was.
If he was going to abuse his child, he would be arrested for child abuse.
He sang bass music to announce the return of the fisherman who caught a bass.
It was a close call, but he had to close the door after I came in.
I had to console him after he lost his radio console.
Derek firmly stated that he would rather contract pneumonia than sign the medical contract.
You can lead a horse to water but only if it is a lead weight.
A cat may have 9 lives, but he lives them one at a time.
He was putting on his shirt on the golf putting green.
He had to record his record of the high jump.
The bandage was wound around the wound.
The farm was used to produce produce.
The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
He could lead if he would get the lead out.
The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert..
Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
I did not object to the object.
The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
The buck does funny things when the does are present.
While holding on to her thread a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear..
I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
The manual I use doesn’t explain the machine’s use.
The mourning dove dove out of the sky.
He was content with the content of the program.
Here is a recording of my iPad reading all of the sentences I wrote. If you can’t hear the recording, you can try to highlight the sentences and then ask your computer to read them out loud. Try to follow along:
