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!