English filler words: sound natural while you think

Fluent speakers pause all the time. The difference is what they put in the pause: "well", "let me think", "that's a good question", "I mean". Learners often go silent in the middle of a sentence, or reach for a filler from their own language, and that mid-sentence silence is what sounds like a struggle.

Useful English fillers, by purpose. To buy time: "Well…", "Let me think…", "That's a good question.", "Hmm, how do I put this…". To soften: "I guess", "kind of", "to be honest". To restart: "I mean…", "What I'm trying to say is…", "Actually…". To hold your turn: "and, um…", "so, basically…". Use one or two; ten in a row sounds nervous.

To practice, talk to Airi and deliberately use a filler each time you need a second, then ask her whether it sounded natural or overdone. The aim is for the pauses in your English to sound like thinking, which is exactly what they are. Free to start.

A quick example with Airi

Quick one: what's the most difficult thing about your job?

Well… that's a good question. Let me think. I guess it's the deadlines, because they change often.

Perfect use of fillers — you sounded thoughtful, not stuck. One tweak: "they change a lot" sounds more natural here.

Try a conversation like this, free600 free credits, about 8 minutes of speaking. No card.

English filler words: the short answer

A filler is a sound, word or short phrase that holds your place while you plan what to say next. English has two families. Hesitation sounds such as "um" and "uh" are what linguists call filled pauses. Words and phrases such as "well", "you know", "I mean" and "like" are discourse markers, and each adds a small meaning of its own. The goal is not zero fillers. It is to use English ones, vary them, and put them where a listener expects a pause: at the start of an answer or between two ideas.

Compare two answers to "How was the conference?" The first: "It was, um, very, um, interesting, and the speakers, um, were good." The second: "Well, it was better than I expected. I mean, the speakers were great, but the room was freezing." Both contain fillers. Only the second sounds comfortable, because each filler has a job.

Common English filler words and what each one signals

Each filler sends a slightly different message, so they are not interchangeable.

Filler	What it tells the listener	Example	Where it fits
Well, ...	An answer is coming, and it may not be a simple yes or no.	"Well, it depends on the traffic."	Any setting
Let me see.	I need a few seconds.	"Let me see. I think it was 2019."	Any setting
I mean, ...	I'm about to explain or adjust what I just said.	"It was fine. I mean, the food was good, but the service was slow."	Conversation and most work talk
Actually, ...	This may surprise you, or I'm correcting something.	"Actually, I've never been there."	Any setting
You know	I expect you to recognize what I'm describing.	"It's one of those, you know, tiny family restaurants."	Conversation; sparingly at work
Like	This is approximate, or only an example.	"It took, like, two hours."	Casual talk only
Um, uh	A short delay is coming.	"It's on, um, the third floor."	Any setting, in small numbers

What research and the IELTS descriptors say about filler words

Fillers carry information. In a 2002 paper in the journal Cognition, Herbert Clark and Jean Fox Tree proposed that speakers use "uh" and "um" to announce a delay: "uh" when they expect a minor one, "um" when they expect a major one. From that announcement a listener can infer, for example, that the speaker is searching for a word, is deciding what to say next or wants to keep the turn. The minor and major split is disputed. In a 2005 study in the Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, Daniel O'Connell and Sabine Kowal measured the pauses in six media interviews and found that most instances of "uh" and "um" were not followed by a silent pause at all. Note who was being studied in both cases: fluent native speakers. "Um" is not a learner's mistake.

The public IELTS Speaking band descriptors never mention "um" or fillers by name. Under fluency and coherence they describe hesitation and discourse markers, the family that "well", "so" and "I mean" belong to. On hesitation, even band 9 allows it when it is "used only to prepare the content of the next utterance and not to find words or grammar". On discourse markers, band 7 has "flexible use of spoken discourse markers", while band 5 has "overuse of certain discourse markers". So the wording rewards variety, lists leaning on the same few markers as a weakness, and does not ask even a top-band speaker to remove every pause.

How to use English fillers without overusing them: five steps

Find your default. Record yourself answering "What did you do last weekend?" for one minute. Play it back and note which filler you repeat and where it falls.
Move fillers to the front. Open with one, then say the sentence in one go: "Well, I mostly stayed home. I had a lot of laundry to do." A filler before a sentence sounds like thinking; one inside every phrase sounds like searching.
Let some pauses stay silent. A one-second pause at the end of a sentence needs nothing in it. It is silence in the middle of a phrase that sounds stuck.
Rotate three. Choose three fillers with different jobs, such as "well", "I mean" and "let me see", so that you do not lean on one.
Match the room. In interviews and presentations, use silent pauses and full phrases such as "Let me think about that." Save "like" for relaxed conversation, and go easy on "you know".

Filler word traps for English learners

Trap	Why it stands out	Do this instead
A filler from your first language, such as Spanish "este", Japanese "eto" or Turkish "yani"	A listener who doesn't know it hears an unfamiliar word, not a pause.	Say "well" or "um" in the same spot.
"How to say ...?"	It is not a complete English question. It needs "do you".	"How do you say ...?", "What's the word?" or "How can I put it?"
"Actually" at the start of every answer	It signals a correction or a surprise, so "Actually, I'm a nurse" sounds as if the other person had guessed something else.	Keep it for real corrections: "Actually, the meeting is tomorrow, not today."
One favorite filler in every sentence, often "basically" or "you know"	Listeners start noticing the word instead of following you.	Rotate three, or pause silently.

An eight-minute filler word drill with Airi

Airi replies out loud, so you hear how spoken replies open, and she shows one small fix at a time. She does not count your fillers, so keep your phone recording if you want a count. The free credits cover about eight minutes of speaking, enough for one round.

Say: "Ask me opinion questions, one at a time. I'm practicing how I start my answers."
Open each answer with one filler from the table above, then finish the sentence without stopping.
Listen to how she begins her replies, and borrow one opener.
Ask: "Did 'actually' sound natural in my last answer?"
Ask for one question again, and answer with a silent pause where your usual filler would go.

Know the limits. For a speech where every "um" matters, a recording plus a teacher or colleague who hears the whole talk will tell you more.

How to get the most from it

Replace silence, not thought

A filler buys a second; it shouldn't replace the answer.

Match the filler to the job

Buying time, softening, restarting — pick the right one.

Two is plenty

"Well, let me think…" then answer. More than that sounds nervous.

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Frequently asked questions

Are filler words bad in English?

No. Fluent speakers use them all the time, and a few well-placed ones can make you sound relaxed. The problems are repeating one filler in every sentence and using casual ones such as "like" in formal situations.

Which fillers should I avoid?

Fillers from your own language, the phrase "how to say", and "um" several times inside one sentence. Replace them with "well", "let me see" or a short silent pause.

What is the difference between "um" and "uh"?

In a 2002 paper in the journal Cognition, Herbert Clark and Jean Fox Tree proposed that speakers say "uh" before a minor delay and "um" before a major one. A 2005 study by Daniel O'Connell and Sabine Kowal found that the pauses after the two overlapped almost entirely, so treat it as a tendency at most. British writers often spell the same sounds "er" and "erm".

Do filler words lower my IELTS Speaking score?

The public band descriptors do not mention fillers by name. Under fluency and coherence, band 7 has "flexible use of spoken discourse markers" and band 5 has "overuse of certain discourse markers", and even band 9 allows hesitation that is used to prepare content. The risk the wording points to is repeating the same filler, not using fillers at all.

How do I stop saying "um" so much?

Record one minute of yourself speaking, notice where the "um" falls, and practice leaving a silent pause in that spot. Moving your filler to the start of the sentence, as in "Well, ...", also helps.

Can I practice this with Airi?

Yes. Ask her for questions and open each answer with a filler on purpose. She answers out loud and shows one small fix at a time, and you can ask whether a filler sounded natural. You start with 600 free credits, about eight minutes of speaking, when you sign up with Google.

Last updated: 2026-10-03