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Uh, Chinese... Um... Filler

Words
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JULIE THA GYAW

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, they
dont make for very impressive oratory.
Filler words are hard to avoid, though, in everyday, casual conversation.

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They do serve a purpose, after all. True to their name, they fill in what
would 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 even
more when you speak a foreign language. But of course, filler words arent
universal. You cant just insert a well or um into Chinese, for example.
Not that people havent tried. One summer I was teaching Chinese at
Middlebury College, which has a strict Chinese only language pledge for
summer school students, so all conversations are supposed to be entirely in
Chinese.
One time I overheard this conversation among a couple of second year
students:
w, like, b zh do, like, znme xe. n zh do ma?
Um, yeah, b zh do.
At first I cringed and wondered how students were allowed to have such
lazy habits in a rigorous program like Middleburys.
But as I thought about it, I realized that no one had ever taught those
students any alternatives to their likes and ums. They hadnt learned
yet to let go of the filler words that they probably use all the time in English
and exchange them for a new set of filler words in Chinese.

Filler words are definitely worth learning for several reasons. The first
reason is because, well, you need them. You need them even more in
Chinese than you do in your native language, because you need extra time
to think before you speak.
Apart from what you want to say, you have to think of how to say it
correctly, including pronunciation and tones and word order. So of course
youre 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 avoid
sounding silly if youre ever tempted to slip an um or well into a
Chinese sentence. By being able to use a normal Chinese filler word
instead, your Chinese will instantly sound more natural and fluent.
Lastly, you should learn them because they are probably words that you
already know in Chinese anyway, so theyre really easy. Its just a matter of
learning to use those words in a different way.
Yoyo Tip: If you'd like to hear the pinyin syllables in the example
sentences below enunciated, take a look at Yoyo Chinese's video-based
pinyin chart. It has 400+ audio demonstrations for all pinyin sounds and
90+ video explanations for some of the more difficult
ones: http://bit.ly/yoyochinesepinyinchart

ni ge ()
One of the most common filler words that Chinese people use all the time is
ni ge (), which as you know just means that one.
This is one of the most liberally used Chinese filler words. You can place it
just about anywhere in a sentence, similar to an um or uh in English.
For instance, lets say someone asked you what you had for lunch
yesterday. You probably have to think about it, saying, Um...I had a, uh,

hamburger. In Chinese, that would be, ni gew ch le y g ni ge

hn bo bo. ( )
Here's another example:
Q: Where in America have you been?

n du q gu mi gu de shn me d fng
A: I've been to San Fransisco, Washington, and uh... New York.
...
w q gu ji jn shn, hu shng dn, hi yu ni ge... ni yu
This filler word is so common that Ive heard Chinese people use ni ge
when speaking English, in a reverse situation of what I heard the American
students say at Middlebury.
One time someone introduced himself to me by saying, ni gemy name
isni geJack.
You can even string together several ni ge in a row. It might sound funny
to you, but it wouldnt be too unusual to hear someone say, w q gu ji
jn shn, hu shng dn, hi yuni ge ni ge ni ge. ni yu (
)

ji sh ()
Another filler word that Chinese people use all the time is ji sh ().
This one can also be used almost anywhere in a sentence.
Sometimes you might hear it used together with ni ge. For example,
another way to answer that lunch question would be, wji shch le y
gni gehn bo bo. ()
Or if someone asks you, What does he do for a living? You might answer,
He isuha lawyer. tji sh... y g l sh. ()
Here's another example:
Q: How long have you been learning English?
n xu yng y du sho nin le?

A: I've been learning ten or so years... uh... ever since junior high.
xu sh du nin le... ji sh... shng ch zhng ji ki sh xu le.
... ... .

rn hu ()
I also hear people using the word rn hu () all the time. You
probably know that it means and then, and is generally used to describe a
sequence 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 about
what 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 example
below:
Q: What did you buy?
n mi shn me le?

A: I bought some things to eat and... uh... a pair of shoes.

w mi le y xi ch de... rn hu... hi yu y shung xi.
... ... .

n ()
The filler words I mentioned above are easy enough to include in everyday
conversations.
But if you're looking for something even easier and closer to home, here's a
Chinese filler word you'll probably like: "n ()".

It sounds vaguely similar to the English filler word "uh", but has a hint of
an "n" in there. Take a listen at this example and see if you can get it down
right:
Q: Do you like America?
n x hun mi gu ma?

A: Uh... that's hard to say... uh... it's alright.

n... shu b ti ho... n... hi xng ba.
... ... ... .
Its also possible to use all of these together. For example, if someone were
to ask you what you do for a living, hopefully you could answer without
hesitation.
But if youre not really sure, you might say something like:
Q: What kind of job do you do?
n zu shn me gng zu de?

A: Uh... I worked at that uh company doing sales, and you know... I

didn't really like it, and so uh... I stopped doing that. So, right now I'm
not working.
n... w sh zi ni ge gng s zu xio shu de... ji sh b ti x hun
ma... rn hu.. ni ge... ji b gn le. n... xin zi mi gng zu
... ... ... ... ...
. ... .
Rather than creating an awkward silence as you think, or worse, saying
um or like, try pulling out a ni ge or rn hu next time.
Like I said before, these filler words are worth learning because they
provide you with a strategy for giving yourself a moment to think of what to
say next without, you know, compromising on, like, fluency.
Are there any filler words unique to your country? Tell us about it in the
comments!
JULIE THA GYAW is one of the course designers and script writers for Yoyo
Chinese. She has lived in China for more than a decade teaching Mandarin, and
holds a Master's degree in Chinese from Middlebury College. Her biggest and
most challenging project these days is learning how to teach her one-year-old
son both English and Chinese.

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Jorge Andres Cifuentes Arcila

12 hours ago

Esto... entonces... ehmm... These are very common in Spanish, very

useful blog! Greetings from Colombia!!
3

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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 wasnt
easy but for Chinese students learning Accounting in English was a lot
harder.
Accounting is more about language, concepts and definitions than
about numbers. Accountants use a subset of English I call
accountingspeak. This is a set of convention phrases that make for

clear, direct communication between accountants. I taught a lot of

English, and accountingspeak, in my classes.
I had gotten the idea that was a filler phrase so when I got an
answer like this:
Debit accounts receivable
and credit
sales.
I would exclaim, Good! But
As an aside, I strongly urge "subject teachers," and English teachers
as well, to study Chinese. Understanding Chinese, even a little, will
increase your student's understanding.
2

Charlotte

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20 hours ago

My kids use these all the time!

Also, to the untrained ear (myself as a first-year teacher in China) nei
ge can sound an awful lot like "nigger." I couldn't believe that my high
school students, who could barely make a sentence, knew that word
and were using it constantly! It took a few weeks before I realized that
it wasn't English and asked a Chinese teacher about it. Whew!
2

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Lance Dawson > Charlotte

11 hours ago

Russell Peters did a great routine on that -

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Yangyang > Lance Dawson

6 hours ago

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

best!

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CoreyInPDX > Yangyang

4 hours ago

I think I would like him a lot more if he actually

spoke these languages, rather than just mock
them. His characterizations seem to be only a
little more enlightened than a typical low-brow
comedian making "ching-chong" jokes.
Unfortunately, the category of "linguist / standup comic" seems to be very lightly populated :-)
There's an opportunity for someone!

Guest > Charlotte

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4 hours ago

Charlotte,
Definitely a contender for stupidest post anywhere on any topic
this week.
Given your command of language, I'd say the Chinese ought to
deport you before sundown.

-dlj.
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carl guymer

2 days ago

Und so! ....Ach so! A very good blog...my native German teacher gave
us the German filler words early in our course. Thank you Julie I feel
sure these words will be of use to me, when I start speaking Chinese
for real!
2

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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 instant
application. Great information!
1

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Yangyang

6 hours ago

I tend to use "rn hu" a lot in my daily speech. :( I'm working on

kicking the habit. :)

Glen

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8 hours ago

Thank you. In listening to chinese speakers I often heard the sounds

nei ge. I wondered what it meant. Mystery solved.

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Adrian Widdowson

9 hours ago

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

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ANFL > Adrian Widdowson

8 hours ago

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

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Jason Eyermann

9 hours ago

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

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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) "" somehow means "I stopped working." here? I thought this
had more of "dare not" meaning.
2) "" was the translation of "didn't really like it.", and seems
to be a rhetorical question.
I have one comment too: I've often heard pronounced as "mm",
rather than an "uh". A closed-mouth sound, in other words. I wonder if
I am just hearing things... :-)

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Kathleen Kao > CoreyInPDX

a day ago

That was a typo :) It's been changed to ".

1

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CoreyInPDX > Kathleen Kao

a day ago

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David Lloyd-Jones > CoreyInPDX

4 hours ago

The Cantonese Language Society of Hong Kong

used to distribute a word-processor optimised
for Hong Kong language.

It was said to contain 1,000 glyphs particular to

Hong Kong, i.e. outside regular Putonghua and
GuoYu.
Hundreds, well, uh, dozens, of them seemed to
me to like, well, you know, and close variants.
-dlj.

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CoreyInPDX > David Lloyd-Jones

3 hours ago

Wow, that glyph likes like + some ink splatter.

Maybe its main use is in .

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David Lloyd-Jones > CoreyInPDX

2 hours ago

Corey,
The vile Foobarlies of Arcturus Minor have my
computer in the range of their Fanta Ray
Projectors, and they zap me about twice a year.
In this particular case those ink splatters are a
feature, not a bug, of my Pinyin system -- but it's
stuck that way until I learn the HanZi necessary
to reading the instructions to turn it o.
Buncha mud-grass horses out there!
(And yes, your is one of the ones I wanted to
use as an example. I got it there clean by
copying yours instead of inserting the one on my
machine.)
Cheers,
-dlj.

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