Top 7 FILLER Expressions Advanced English Vocabulary Lesson
Hi!
I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Today, let’s talk about six plus one bonus
filler expression that you can use in daily
conversation.
First, let’s talk about what in the world
are filler expressions.
I want to make a difference between filler
expressions and words that actually mean something.
A lot of videos that I saw on YouTube about
filler expressions also included expressions
that have a meaning.
It’s just another way to say “yes” or another
way to say “I agree” or another way to say
“I’m listening.”
But these filler expressions that I’m going
to share with you have no meaning except to
kind of waste some time until you can think
about the end of your sentence, or what you
want to say.
So these are true filler expressions.
They have no inherent meaning in themselves,
but they’re just to help you spend a couple
seconds before you think about what you want
to say next.
Of course, I need to add the disclaimer that
when you’re speaking in a professional situation,
you should try to avoid using these filler
words, because it kind of seems like you don’t
know what you’re going to say, or what you
should say next, and that’s exactly why we
use filler expressions.
It’s when you don’t know what you’re going
to say next or you’re trying to think of the
next word or the end of your sentence.
And let’s be honest though, in daily conversation,
native speakers use these all the time.
So I want you to be able to fill those blank
spaces in your sentences with something that
native speakers would use.
I know that when I was living in France I
heard a lot of French speakers say “Oh, well,
buh …” and this filler expression would
never be used by American English speakers.
This is something that is specific to French
speakers.
So I’m sure in your native language you have
these kind of fillers as well.
But if you use the ones that you use in your
native language, like “Buh …” it’s not going
to sound very natural.
So I hope that these expressions that I’m
going to teach you today will be useful to
help you sound more fluid and more fluent.
And don’t worry about using them; native speakers
use them all the time.
You should too.
Let’s start with the first one.
The first filler expression that I want to
teach you today is actually two, and I want
to teach you the difference between them.
It is “um” and “uh.”
Let’s talk about a quick sample sentence.
Let’s say that you’re talking to your friend
about your next vacation.
You could say, “Uh, I was thinking about going
to New York.
I was thinking about going to New York.”
If you said, “I was um, thinking about going
to New York,” compared to “I was uh, thinking
about going to New York.”
Which one sounds better?
Is there a difference?
Yes.
Oftentimes I feel like people use “um” in
more presentation style situations.
So let’s say you’re giving a presentation
and you’re not certain what you’re going to
say next.
And you’re using a filler expression; you’re
probably more likely to say “um.”
And this is recommended to be avoided in presentation
situations, so if you’re having a daily conversation
with someone and you have a little pause in
your sentence, I recommend saying “uh.”
“I was thinking about uh, going to New York.”
“I was thinking about uh, going to New York.”
Uh.
The second filler word is of course: “like.”
Like, like, like, like.
I am guilty of using this one a lot.
And it can be overused, but it can be used
in a tactful, natural way as well.
So let’s go back to our sample sentence about
New York.
I could say, “I was like, thinking about going
to New York.”
Or I could say, “I was thinking about going
to like, New York.”
It’s just a filler word, it doesn’t have any
meaning by itself.
And if you use this just a couple times in
your conversation, this is natural.
If you use it after every word, after every
expression, it’s a little bit overkill.
Overkill means too much.
So you might hear some people say, “Like I
was like thinking about like going to New
York like.”
It kind of seems like this person is nervous
or maybe they’re a young teenager, or maybe
they’re just not certain what they want to
say next and they just keep using “like” so
much.
So you might see people use this too much,
but you can use it sparingly, and it’s perfectly
natural.
The third filler word that we’re going to
talk about today is “ya know.”
Even though this one is “you know,” native
speakers often just say “ya.”
Ya know, ya know, ya know.
And we can add this in our sample sentence
by saying “I was ya know, thinking about going
to New York.”
“I was ya know, thinking about New York.”
This doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence
at all.
It’s just inserted to give a little pause,
and maybe you’re not certain exactly what
you want to say.
Or maybe you want to pause for some dramatic
effect.
“I was, ya know, thinking about going to New
York.”
Or you could put it in a different place in
the sentence.
You could put it at the beginning.
“Ya know, I was thinking about going to New
York.”
Or you could say," I was thinking about going,
ya know, to New York."
We can put filler expressions in a lot of
different places in the sentence, and it’s
really natural.
The fourth filler expression that I want to
share with you is actually two expressions,
but they’re pretty much the same thing so
I wanted to included them together.
And this is “sort of” and “kind of.”
These are often reduced to “sorta” “kinda.”
Let’s take our sample sentence and insert
this filler word.
You might say, “I was sorta thinking about
going to New York.”
“I was kinda thinking about going to New York.”
“I was, ya know, kinda sorta thinking about
going to New York.”
You can add multiple expressions.
You might have noticed in this past sentence
that it showed some hesitancy.
I wasn’t quite certain how the other person
would react, so I had a lot of filler expressions.
Maybe you’re trying to tell your parents something
that you know they’ll feel a little bit uncomfortable
about.
Maybe they don’t want you to go to New York,
and if you’re a young person, maybe that’s
something that you need to carefully tell
them.
So you might say, “Well, I was kinda sorta
ya know, thinking about going to New York.”
This can be used to break the news easily,
or it can just be used as a filler expression.
The fifth and sixth filler expressions are
often used at the beginning of the sentence,
but they mean the same thing.
They are still filler expressions.
And they are “well” and “so.”
“Well, I was thinking about going to New York
next week.”
“So, I was thinking about going to New York
next week.”
The meaning doesn’t change without those words,
but it just kind of gives some pause.
It gives some space before you say your sentence.
The seventh filler expression that I want
to share with you is actually kind of a bonus
expression.
And this goes at the end of the sentence.
It is “or something.”
Or something, or something.
So with our sample sentence, you might say,
“Well, I was thinking about going to New York
next week or something.”
And this shows that you’re not quite certain
if you’re going to New York, and you’re also
trying to show that hesitancy.
“Well, I was thinking about going to New York
next week or something.”
We often use this as well after you give some
kind of advice.
So, if I said to you, “Oh, well, you should
study English every day or something.”
It’s kind of showing that I’m giving you advice,
but I don’t want to be too strong about it.
I don’t want you to feel like I’m telling
you, “You should study English every day.”
I’m just trying to gently tell you.
“You should study English every day or something.”
This is advice, but it’s not the most important
thing in the world.
Or maybe I’m trying to make you feel like
“Hmm, you know, you can listen to my advice,
but if you don’t, it’s okay.”
I don’t want to be too pushy.
So you might end some advice with “or something.”
And now I have a challenge for you.
I want to know where are you thinking about
going for your next vacation?
And can you use a filler expression that you
learned today in your sentence?
Yes, of course, filler expressions are used
in conversation, mainly.
But I want you to repeat the expressions that
you learn today, because when you write them,
when you think about which one to use, you’re
repeating it in your mind, and hopefully it
will help you to remember them and learn them
so that you can use them yourself.
So, it’s kind of time for me to go, but you
know, I’ll be back.
I’ll make another video soon, and I’ll uh,
see you later.
Bye!
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Thanks so much.
Bye!