speak haltingly

In these early days, they often speak haltingly and in sentences that are spare.

Whenever the former president’s name came up in these interviews, Mr. McCarthy would lower his voice and speak haltingly, wary of not casting Mr. Trump in a way that might upset him.

It was a five-hour meal, and people speak haltingly, hoping to find common ground that goes beyond icy tolerance.

“If the English rajahs,” said a voice, that seemed to the two young men in their bandaged condition to come out of the darkness, and to speak haltingly, as if the utterer were not quite sure of the language in which he spoke—“If the English rajahs will be patient, and not try to escape, no harm shall be done to them.”

She was able to speak — haltingly and not always understandably, but enough to communicate.