In this mini episode, you will learn some “filler words” in American English.
Episode 263 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you some “filler words” in American English. Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi, this is Atena, from Iran. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 263 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you about a very important topic that you might not learn about in a textbook or in a class. The subject is filler words. Filler words. Have you ever heard of this kind of word? A filler word? Filler is spelled f-i-l-l-e-r. And filler words are used to fill pauses in our speech.
Every language has a set of filler words. We use filler words when we are not sure what we want to say next. Or when we are not sure the right way to say what we want to say next. Or when we cannot remember a certain word.
I want to tell you six very common filler words in American English. If you use these words when you are speaking, when you are pausing, when you are not exactly sure what to say next or how to say it, I think your English will sound more natural. Well, it will sound more like natural American English, at least.
The first two of these filler words are extremely common. They are um, which we spell u-m, and uh, which we spell u-h. Um and uh. You will hear these very often in conversation. Um and uh. And these don’t really have any meaning of their own. They are just things that fill in pauses or fill in empty spaces in our speech.
The next one is I mean. I mean. That’s two words: I and mean: m-e-a-n. I mean. Now, like um and uh, this is really just a filler word or a filler phrase (it’s two words). But it does have a slightly different meaning, or it can have a slightly different meaning. It can mean “Let me be clear. This is what I really mean.”
The next one—and this one is very similar to that—is you know. You know. Y-o-u k-n-o-w. You know. This does have a separate meaning. It means, or it can mean, “You know what I am saying. You understand.” But many people really just use you know as a filler when they are not sure what to say next or how to say it.
The next one is actually. Actually: a-c-t-u-a-l-l-y. Actually. Again, this has its own specific meaning, even when we use it as just a filler word. So it means something like, “I really mean this,” or “Let me clarify. Let me specify. This is what I actually think,” or “This is what I really think.”
And the last one, and sometimes I think this might be the most common filler word.
The wordis like: l-i-k-e. Like. Like does have many meanings, some of them very difficult to explain. And I have tried to explain some of these uses of like in previous podcasts. But probably the most common use for like these days is as a filler word. In that use, it really doesn’t mean anything. It just means “I’m still talking. I’m still talking, even though I have paused, even though it looks like I’m not sure what to say next. I’m still here. It’s still my turn to speak.”
If you use these filler words—or some of them—when you are speaking and when you are pausing or when you are not sure what to say or how to say it, I think your English will sound more natural.
Outro
This is the end of episode 263 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions for the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Atena recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye! I’ll see you soon.