![]() ![]() “At the end of the day” is a phrase that means “in the end” or “in conclusion.” “I really like that girl, you know what I mean?” 15. “You know what I mean?” is used to make sure the listener is following what you’re saying. “The cave is two thousand- I mean-twenty thousand years old!” 14. ![]() I mean, the tiger was scary, not the duck.” “The duck and the tiger were awesome but scary. It’s also used to make corrections when you misspeak: “ I mean, he’s a great guy, I’m just not sure if he’s a good doctor.” “I mean” is used to clarify or emphasize how you feel about something: “When the elevator went down, I got that weird feeling in my ears, you know?” 13. It can also be used instead of an explanation, in cases where we feel the listener just understands what we mean. “We stayed at that hotel, you know, the one down the street from Times Square.” “You know” is used to share something that you assume the listener already knows. “I was going to try the app, but you see, I ran out of space on my phone.” 12. “You see” is used to share a fact that you assume the listener doesn’t know, like: “ Clearly you don’t know what you’re talking about.” 11. The adverb “clearly” means the same as “obviously.” As a filler word, it is used to state something that is very obviously true. “You totally didn’t see me, even though I was right in front of you.” 10. Our next adverb is “totally,” which means “completely.” It is used to show that you feel strongly about something or that something is important. “That’s so funny! I’m literally dying of laughter right now!” 9. These strong feelings aren’t always literal, though. It really means “something that is true,” but many times in conversation it’s used with a different meaning: to express strong feelings. “Wow… That roller coaster was seriously scary!” 8. The adverb “seriously” is used to show how strongly you take the statement. “ Basically, the last Batman movie was really exciting!” 7. It is used when you’re summarizing something, like a movie you saw: Some adverbs can be used as fillers to change the strength of a statement.įor example, the word “actually” is used to point out something you think is true, when others might not agree: Many English adverbs (though not all of them) have an “-ly” at the end of the word, which makes it easier to recognize them. “Actually” is an adverb-a word that describes an action. The word is often overused by young females, and can make you sound like you’re not sure what you’re talking about. Keep in mind that the word “like” as a filler is seen as a negative thing. “My friend was like, completely ready to like kick me out of the car if I didn’t stop using the word ‘like’.” Usually, though, the word is used when you need a moment to figure out the next word to use. In the above example, the neighbor probably doesn’t have exactly ten dogs. “Like” is sometimes used to mean that something is not exact: “ Hmm, I like the red bag but I think I’ll buy the black one instead.” 4. “Hmm” is a thoughtful sound, and it shows that you’re thinking or trying to decide something. “ Umm… I like the yellow dress better!” 3. You can use any of the words at any time-they don’t all have to go together. “ Um, er, I uh thought the project was due tomorrow, not today.” “Um,” “er” and “uh” are mostly used for hesitation, such as when you don’t know the answer or don’t want to answer. You can even use the word to stall (delay): “The apples and cinnamon go together like, well, apples and cinnamon.” You can also use it to put a pause in a sentence: “ Well, I guess $20 is a good price for a pair of jeans.” You can use it to show that you’re thinking” “Well” can be used in a few different ways. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy. So here are 20+ English filler words to help you sound natural and more like a native speaker. Native speakers use filler words often in casual English conversations. For example, when you can’t think of a word, you might say “umm.” The words we removed are called filler words. These are words (and phrases) that are used to fill silence when you’re speaking, often to give you time to think.įiller words don’t really add any meaning to the sentence. Take out the words “like,” “totally” and “you know,” and you’re left with a perfectly understandable sentence: English is fun to learn. “English is like, totally fun to learn, you know?” J20+ English Filler Words to Help You Sound Fluent ![]()
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