***

id: 3380f7a2-7aa4-4041-abfd-8745700f6131
title: Pause
sidebar-title: Pause
slug: /cxml/reference/voice/pause
position: 1
max-toc-depth: 3
----------------

The `<Pause>` verb waits silently for a distinctive number of seconds.

## Verb attributes

<ParamField path="length" type="integer" default="1">
  The number of seconds SignalWire will pause silently before moving on.
</ParamField>

## Nesting

No other verbs can be nested within `<Pause>`. However, `<Pause>` can be nested within a `<Gather>`.

## Examples

### A simple pause

<CodeBlocks>
  ```xml
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  <Response>
      <Say>Please wait one moment while I check that for you.</Say>
      <Pause length="8"/>
      <Say>Yes, we are open Monday through Friday.</Say>
  </Response>
  ```

  ```javascript title="Node.js"
  const { RestClient } = require("@signalwire/compatibility-api");
  const response = new RestClient.LaML.VoiceResponse();

  response.say("Please wait one moment while I check that for you.");
  response.pause({ length: 8 });
  response.say("Yes, we are open Monday through Friday.");
  console.log(response.toString());
  ```

  ```csharp
  using Twilio.TwiML;
  using System;


  class Example
  {
      static void Main()
      {
          var response = new VoiceResponse();
          response.Say("Please wait one moment while I check that for you.");
          response.Pause(length: 8);
          response.Say("Yes, we are open Monday through Friday.");

          Console.WriteLine(response.ToString());;
      }
  }
  ```

  ```python
  from signalwire.voice_response import VoiceResponse, Say, Pause

  response = VoiceResponse()
  response.say('Please wait one moment while I check that for you.')
  response.pause(length=8)
  response.say('Yes, we are open Monday through Friday.')

  print(response)
  ```

  ```ruby
  require 'signalwire/sdk'

  response = Signalwire::Sdk::VoiceResponse.new do |response|
    response.say(message: 'Please wait one moment while I check that for you.')
    response.pause(length: 10)
    response.say(message: 'Yes, we are open Monday through Friday.')
  end

  puts response.to_s
  ```
</CodeBlocks>

This illustrates the wait time between two statements.

### Delaying a response

<CodeBlocks>
  ```xml
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  <Response>
      <Pause length="3"/>
      <Say>Hello, how can I help you?</Say>
  </Response>
  ```

  ```javascript title="Node.js"
  const { RestClient } = require("@signalwire/compatibility-api");
  const response = new RestClient.LaML.VoiceResponse();

  response.pause({ length: 3 });
  response.say("Hello, how can I help you?");
  console.log(response.toString());
  ```

  ```csharp
  using Twilio.TwiML;
  using System;


  class Example
  {
      static void Main()
      {
          var response = new VoiceResponse();
          response.Pause(length: 3);
          response.Say("Hello, how can I help you?");

          Console.WriteLine(response.ToString());;
      }
  }
  ```

  ```python
  from signalwire.voice_response import VoiceResponse, Say, Pause

  response = VoiceResponse()
  response.pause(length=3)
  response.say('Hello, how can I help you?')

  print(response)
  ```

  ```ruby
  require 'signalwire/sdk'

  response = Signalwire::Sdk::VoiceResponse.new do |response|
    response.pause(length: 3)
    response.say(message: 'Hello, how can I help you?')
  end

  puts response.to_s
  ```
</CodeBlocks>

SignalWire waits 3 seconds before answering a call.