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JULIE THA GYAW

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DECEMBER 8TH, 2014

“Yeah, uh, you know, like, well, I mean, okay.”

Filler words.

Although you can practically make an entire sentence out of them, theydon’t make for very impressive oratory.

Filler words are hard to avoid, though, in everyday, casual conversation.

Uh, Chinese... Um... FillerWords

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They do serve a purpose, after all. True to their name, they fill in whatwould otherwise be gaps of silence as you search for the right words.

We all use them as a way to buy us a bit of time to think as we speak.

If you rely on filler words in your native language, then you need them evenmore when you speak a foreign language. But of course, filler words aren’tuniversal. You can’t just insert a “well” or “um” into Chinese, for example.

Not that people haven’t tried. One summer I was teaching Chinese atMiddlebury College, which has a strict “Chinese only” language pledge forsummer school students, so all conversations are supposed to be entirely inChinese.

One time I overheard this conversation among a couple of second yearstudents:

“wǒ, like, bù zhī dào, like, zěnme xǐe. nǐ zhī dào ma?”

“Um, yeah, bù zhī dào.”

At first I cringed and wondered how students were allowed to have suchlazy habits in a rigorous program like Middlebury’s.

But as I thought about it, I realized that no one had ever taught thosestudents any alternatives to their “likes” and “ums.” They hadn’t learnedyet to let go of the filler words that they probably use all the time in Englishand exchange them for a new set of filler words in Chinese.

Filler words are definitely worth learning for several reasons. The firstreason is because, well, you need them. You need them even more inChinese than you do in your native language, because you need extra timeto think before you speak.

Apart from what you want to say, you have to think of how to say itcorrectly, including pronunciation and tones and word order. So of courseyou’re going to need some extra time to work it all out as you speak.

Second, you need to learn Chinese filler words so that you can avoidsounding silly if you’re ever tempted to slip an “um” or “well” into aChinese sentence. By being able to use a normal Chinese filler wordinstead, your Chinese will instantly sound more natural and fluent.

Lastly, you should learn them because they are probably words that youalready know in Chinese anyway, so they’re really easy. It’s just a matter oflearning to use those words in a different way.

Yoyo Tip: If you'd like to hear the pinyin syllables in the examplesentences below enunciated, take a look at Yoyo Chinese's video-basedpinyin chart. It has 400+ audio demonstrations for all pinyin sounds and90+ video explanations for some of the more difficultones: http://bit.ly/yoyochinesepinyinchart

nèi ge (那个)One of the most common filler words that Chinese people use all the time is“nèi ge” (那个), which as you know just means “that one.”

This is one of the most liberally used Chinese filler words. You can place itjust about anywhere in a sentence, similar to an “um” or “uh” in English.

For instance, let’s say someone asked you what you had for lunchyesterday. You probably have to think about it, saying, “Um...I had a, uh,

hamburger.” In Chinese, that would be, “nèi ge…wǒ chī le yí gè… nèi ge…hàn bǎo bāo.” (那个，我吃了⼀一个那个… 汉堡包。)

Here's another example:

Q: Where in America have you been?你都去过美国的什么地⽅方？nǐ dōu qù guò měi guó de shén me dì fāng

A: I've been to San Fransisco, Washington, and uh... New York.我去过旧⾦金⼭山，华盛顿，还有那个...纽约。wǒ qù guò jiù jīn shān, huá shèng dùn, hái yǒu nèi ge... niǔ yuē

This filler word is so common that I’ve heard Chinese people use “nèi ge”when speaking English, in a reverse situation of what I heard the Americanstudents say at Middlebury.

One time someone introduced himself to me by saying, “nèi ge…my nameis…nèi ge…Jack.”

You can even string together several “nèi ge” in a row. It might sound funnyto you, but it wouldn’t be too unusual to hear someone say, “wǒ qù guò jiùjīn shān, huá shèng dùn, hái yǒu…nèi ge nèi ge nèi ge…. niǔ yuē” (我去过旧⾦金⼭山，华盛顿，还有…那个那个那个…纽约。)

jiù shì (就是)Another filler word that Chinese people use all the time is “jiù shì” (就是). This one can also be used almost anywhere in a sentence.

Sometimes you might hear it used together with “nèi ge.” For example,another way to answer that lunch question would be, “wǒ…jiù shì…chī le yígè…nèi ge…hàn bǎo bāo.” (我就是吃了⼀一个那个汉堡包。)

Or if someone asks you, “What does he do for a living?” You might answer,“He is…uh…a lawyer.” “tā…jiù shì... yí gè lǜ shī.” (他…就是⼀一个…律师。)

Here's another example:

Q: How long have you been learning English?nǐ xué yīng yǔ duō shǎo nián le?你学英语多少年了？

A: I've been learning ten or so years... uh... ever since junior high.xué shí duō nián le... jiù shì... shàng chū zhōng jiù kāi shǐ xué le.学⼗〸十多年了... 就是... 上初中就开始学了.

rán hòu (然后)I also hear people using the word “rán hòu” (然后) all the time. Youprobably know that it means “and then,” and is generally used to describe asequence of events, as in “first this happened, and then that happened.”

But people often use it as a way to buy themselves some time to think aboutwhat to say next, similar to how we might say, “and, um…“ in English.

It also comes in handy when you're listing things, like in this examplebelow:

Q: What did you buy?nǐ mǎi shén me le?你买什么了？

A: I bought some things to eat and... uh... a pair of shoes.wǒ mǎi le yì xiē chī de... rán hòu... hái yǒu yì shuāng xié.我买了⼀一些吃的... 然后... 还有⼀一双鞋.

ēn (恩)The filler words I mentioned above are easy enough to include in everydayconversations.

But if you're looking for something even easier and closer to home, here's aChinese filler word you'll probably like: "ēn (恩)".

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It sounds vaguely similar to the English filler word "uh", but has a hint ofan "n" in there. Take a listen at this example and see if you can get it downright:

Q: Do you like America?ní xǐ huān měi guó ma?你喜欢美国吗？

A: Uh... that's hard to say... uh... it's alright.ēn... shuō bú tài hǎo... ēn... hái xíng ba.恩... 说不太好... 恩... 还⾏行吧.

It’s also possible to use all of these together. For example, if someone wereto ask you what you do for a living, hopefully you could answer withouthesitation.

But if you’re not really sure, you might say something like:

Q: What kind of job do you do?nǐ zuò shén me gōng zuò de?你做什么⼯工作的？

A: Uh... I worked at that uh company doing sales, and you know... Ididn't really like it, and so uh... I stopped doing that. So, right now I'mnot working.ēn... wǒ shì zài nèi ge gōng sī zuò xiāo shòu de... jiù shì bú tài xǐ huānma... rán hòu.. nèi ge... jiù bú gàn le. ēn... xiàn zài méi gōng zuò恩，我是在那个公司做销售的... 就是不太喜欢吗... 然后... 那个... 就... 不⼲干了. 恩... 现在没⼯工作.

Rather than creating an awkward silence as you think, or worse, saying“um” or “like,” try pulling out a “nèi ge” or “rán hòu” next time.

Like I said before, these filler words are worth learning because theyprovide you with a strategy for giving yourself a moment to think of what tosay next without, you know, compromising on, like, fluency.

Are there any filler words unique to your country? Tell us about it in thecomments!

JULIE THA GYAW is one of the course designers and script writers for YoyoChinese. She has lived in China for more than a decade teaching Mandarin, andholds a Master's degree in Chinese from Middlebury College. Her biggest andmost challenging project these days is learning how to teach her one-year-oldson both English and Chinese.

21 Comments Yoyo Chinese Login!

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• Reply •

Jorge Andres Cifuentes Arcila • 12 hours ago

Esto... entonces... ehmm... These are very common in Spanish, veryuseful blog! Greetings from Colombia!!

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John Foster • 12 hours ago

I taught Accounting in China, in English, for several years.Teaching Accounting in English to Chinese university students wasn’teasy but for Chinese students learning Accounting in English was a lotharder.

Accounting is more about language, concepts and definitions thanabout numbers. Accountants use a subset of English I call“accountingspeak.” This is a set of convention phrases that make forclear, direct communication between accountants. I taught a lot of

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• Reply •

clear, direct communication between accountants. I taught a lot ofEnglish, and accountingspeak, in my classes.

I had gotten the idea that 哪个 was a filler phrase so when I got ananswer like this:

“Debit 哪个… 恩accounts 哪个receivable哪个…哪个 恩 …and 哪个…恩credit 哪个…哪个哪个哪个哪个… 哪个… 恩sales.”

I would exclaim, “Good! But 会计没有哪个哪个哪个哪个哪个哪个！

As an aside, I strongly urge "subject teachers," and English teachersas well, to study Chinese. Understanding Chinese, even a little, willincrease your student's understanding.

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Charlotte • 20 hours ago

My kids use these all the time! Also, to the untrained ear (myself as a first-year teacher in China) neige can sound an awful lot like "nigger." I couldn't believe that my highschool students, who could barely make a sentence, knew that wordand were using it constantly! It took a few weeks before I realized thatit wasn't English and asked a Chinese teacher about it. Whew!

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• Reply •

Lance Dawson • 11 hours ago> Charlotte

Russell Peters did a great routine on that -

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• Reply •

Yangyang • 6 hours ago> Lance Dawson

I can never get tired of Russel Peters' routine. He's thebest!

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• Reply •

CoreyInPDX • 4 hours ago> Yangyang

I think I would like him a lot more if he actuallyspoke these languages, rather than just mockthem. His characterizations seem to be only alittle more enlightened than a typical low-browcomedian making "ching-chong" jokes.Unfortunately, the category of "linguist / stand-up comic" seems to be very lightly populated :-)There's an opportunity for someone!

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Guest • 4 hours ago> Charlotte

Charlotte,

Definitely a contender for stupidest post anywhere on any topicthis week.

Given your command of language, I'd say the Chinese ought todeport you before sundown.

-dlj.

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-dlj. △ ▽

• Reply •

carl guymer • 2 days ago

Und so! ....Ach so! A very good blog...my native German teacher gaveus the German filler words early in our course. Thank you Julie I feelsure these words will be of use to me, when I start speaking Chinesefor real!

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• Reply •

Diego Vergara • 2 days ago

I've heard these filler words everywhere! I didn't really knew what they meant but now everything makes sense.They are very common in everyday situations and of instantapplication. Great information!

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Yangyang • 6 hours ago

I tend to use "rán hòu" a lot in my daily speech. :( I'm working onkicking the habit. :)

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• Reply •

Glen • 8 hours ago

Thank you. In listening to chinese speakers I often heard the soundsnei ge. I wondered what it meant. Mystery solved.

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Adrian Widdowson • 9 hours ago

For 那个 , I would have said "na4 ge", rather than "nei4 ge". Are thetwo pronunciations interchangeable?

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• Reply •

ANFL • 8 hours ago> Adrian Widdowson

Yes. Nei4 ge is a dialect found in Beijing and other places. △ ▽

• Reply •

Jason Eyermann • 9 hours ago

I always use jiu shi when speaking mandarin. I can't get used to usingnei ge even though i hear it all the time.

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• Reply •

Jacqui • 13 hours ago

Very interesting and helpful tips. Thank you △ ▽

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CoreyInPDX • a day ago

Ok, I gotta ask... two things caught my attention:1) "不敢了" somehow means "I stopped working." here? I thought thishad more of "dare not" meaning.2) "不太喜欢吗" was the translation of "didn't really like it.", and seemsto be a rhetorical question.

I have one comment too: 嗯 I've often heard pronounced as "mm",rather than an "uh". A closed-mouth sound, in other words. I wonder ifI am just hearing things... :-)

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• Reply •

Kathleen Kao • a day ago> CoreyInPDX

That was a typo :) It's been changed to "不干了“. 1△ ▽

• Reply •

CoreyInPDX • a day ago> Kathleen Kao

哦，明⽩白了，谢谢 △ ▽

David Lloyd-Jones • 4 hours ago

> CoreyInPDX

The Cantonese Language Society of Hong Kongused to distribute a word-processor optimisedfor Hong Kong language.

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• Reply •

It was said to contain 1,000 glyphs particular toHong Kong, i.e. outside regular Putonghua andGuoYu.

Hundreds, well, uh, dozens, of them seemed tome to like, well, you know, 嗯҉҉ and close variants.

-dlj. △ ▽

• Reply •

CoreyInPDX • 3 hours ago> David Lloyd-Jones

Wow, that glyph likes like 嗯 + some ink splatter.Maybe its main use is in 漫画.

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• Reply •

David Lloyd-Jones • 2 hours ago

> CoreyInPDX

Corey,

The vile Foobarlies of Arcturus Minor have mycomputer in the range of their Fanta RayProjectors, and they zap me about twice a year.

In this particular case those ink splatters are afeature, not a bug, of my Pinyin system -- but it'sstuck that way until I learn the HanZi necessaryto reading the instructions to turn it off.

Buncha mud-grass horses out there!

(And yes, your 嗯 is one of the ones I wanted touse as an example. I got it there clean bycopying yours instead of inserting the one on mymachine.)

Cheers,

-dlj. △ ▽

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