Have you ever met someone who says “like” in like every sentence?
Super annoying, right?
Well, here is the bad news: French people use filler words all the time too, like most of us can’t even say a sentence without using a filler word.
And here is the good news: I’m in a good mood today, so I’ve decided to show you how to use 9 common filler words so you can sound more French and annoy the French by giving them a taste of their own medicine.
But before we get started, you have to promise me you’re not going to overuse them, because that’s well, annoying, right?
Okay, allons-y!
Contents
Euh
Euh…I don’t know what to write actually…
“Euh” is the king of French filler words.
You use it when you don’t know what to say, need some time to think before answering, don’t really want to answer or just aren’t very sure of what you’re saying.
It’s the French equivalent of the English “uh”.
Alors, vous prenez la première à gauche, et ensuite euh, je crois que c’est à droite.
So, you take the first (street) on the left, and then uh, I think it’s on the right.
Hein
This filler word is mostly used at the end of sentences to confirm something the same way you would use “right?” or “isn’t it?” in English.
It can also be used alone as a (rude) way to say you didn’t understand what someone said.
Tu seras là ce soir, hein ?
You’ll be here tonight, right?
Quoi
“Quoi” means “what” and you can use it at the end of sentences to drive people crazy.
No seriously, you can use it to ask questions (c’est quoi ça ?) or put it at the end of a sentence to say “you know” and emphasize what you’re saying as if it was an absolute truth.
Il ne fait pas beau chez moi, c’est la Normandie quoi !
The weather is awful where I live, it’s Normandie you know!
Tu sais
Sometimes “quoi” just isn’t enough to irritate people.
Luckily, you can also use “tu sais” (you know).
Just add it at the end of the sentence and let it destroy a perfectly fine sentence.
C’est pas facile tu sais.
It’s not easy you know.
Bref
“Bref” literally means “brief” or “short”.
It’s a French filler word you can use to end a conversation you find too long or to summarize something you said.
It’s the equivalent of “anyway”, “basically” or “in short”. You can also say “enfin bref” which basically means the same.
Bref, the best way to understand the use of “bref” is to watch the French TV series Bref.
Did I say “bref” too much?
Oh and don’t worry if you don’t understand anything the guy says in the video, he speaks very fast.
The movie was nice at first, but I found the story really boring at the end. Well, anyway, I don’t recommend you to go watch it.
Enfin
“Enfin” is the French equivalent of “anyway” or “welll”.
Ton frère est parti ? Oui, enfin je crois.
Did your brother leave? Yes, well, I think.
It can also be used in formal situations. In this case, it means “finally”.
Il a enfin décidé de quitter son travail.
He finally decided to leave his work.
Quand même
“Quand même” means “even though” or “still” in formal situations . It can also be used to express surprise, both in formal and informal situations.
Mon nouvel appartement fait 120 m2. Ah oui quand même !
My new apartment has a surface of 120 m2. Wow!
Bon ben
This is the equivalent of “alright then” or “ok well”. You can use it to end a conversation when you need to go.
Bon ben, à demain alors !
Ok. I will see you tomorrow then!
Eh bien
You can use “eh bien” at the beginning of sentences to say “well” or “well, I’m not sure”.
Eh bien justement, j’allais te poser la même question
Well, actually, I was about to ask you the same question
It’s hum time to create your own sentence
Here is a challenge for you now: create a sentence with one of those filler words and post it in the comment section below this article!
Euh…est bien…Il fait avoir, tu sais, une sense de l’humor…euh…quand je parle Francis, tu sais, mais,,,euh…Ou est la tour Effie? Tu sais, je suis American et mon Francais euh est drole, n’est pas, quoi. Je m’excuse, je suis une de la “Drole des Dames” de le television, vraiment…une de l’originals, tu sais
Parfait Kate 🙂
euh, je veux le 30 jours course, mais denny stein a le 30 jours course tu sais. With my limited french vocab that was so hard.
@Benjamin Who is the lucky guy? 🙂 The course starts today! 🙂
Denny Stein won, but your sentence was great too 🙂
Bravo! 🙂 @Denny Stein
Thank you, Benjamin! 🙂
Eh bien, je pense que l’utilisation de ces mots me fera semblant avoir euh…quelques moins de points de QI tu sais!
Bon ben, je vais créer une phrase …. mais bien que je ne pense pas que Ben me adjuger le livre.
Mais enfin c’est tout le monde qui aura besoin du livre quoi
Est-ce que tu as vu une vache en faisant ses cours? Eh bien, pas moi aussi, mais quand même j’ai entendu qu’elles n’achetent jamais du boeuf, tu sais. Quelle surprise, hien? Tu n’est pas intéressé, quoi! Bon ben…
Cette phrase est parfaite 🙂
Euh … tu sais, enfin, je vais obtenir un cours, quoi? Quand même cette phrase peut-être n’est pas correcte! Bon ben! 🙂
je t’aime, quand meme tu as des chats
Bonjour Shaked
Do you want to say “even though”? In this case, you can say “je t’aime, même si tu as des chats”.
looks like I really need the book;)
Eh bien, justement, je besoin “30 Day French” parce que j’ai essayé apprendre Français en soixante jours, et, quand même, euh, j’encore ne peux pas bien parle, quoi! En bref, je le besoin!
Great sentence Madeline. Just one thing: “I need” is “j’ai besoin”, so you can say “j’ai besoin de 30 Day French”.
Eh bien, il semble que nous sommes prêts à ennuyer les français, tu sais?
Les pauvres :p.
Est-ce que tu as oublié le mot “donc”? Je l’écoute toujours…
Ah oui. Je vais ajouter “donc” :).
Tu as dejà choisi un gagnant, hein? Eh bien, je laisse un commentarie quand meme, quoi!
Eh oui. Mais tu aurais pu être le gagnant avec cette phrase :).
je suis tres mal a parler francais tu sais, donc j’ai besoin de 30 DayFrench, hein?
Bonjour Ramira. It’s better to say “j’ai du mal à parler français” 🙂
Je parle francais comme une vache espagnole, tu sais! 🙂
Belle maitrise des expressions idiomatiques françaises 🙂
Le mot “hein” veut dire “right?”,n’est-ce pas?
C’est ça 🙂
Est-il possible de regarder la vidéo aux États-Unis?
Oui je pense, mais si ça ne fonctionne pas, vous pouvez utiliser un vpn. J’en parle dans cet article:
https://frenchtogether.com/watch-french-tv/
Enfin bref, je voudrai un copie de 30 Days French. Parce que, tu sais, j’ai besoin d’apprendre le français tout de suite, hein?
Parfait :). I sent you an email with your copy of 30 Day French.
Félicitations Denny! I like your sentence, although err… I’ve noticed 4 minor mistakes in your sentence. I’m a person who can’t sit still whenever I see a grammatical error, you know! Anyway, if I were you, I’d write it like this:
Enfin bref, je voudrais une copie de 30 Day French. Parce que, tu sais, j’ai besoin d’apprendre le français tout de suite, hein ?
In French, there’s a non breaking space (espace insécable) before ? ! ;
But you can simply insert a normal space.
« Je voudrais » means “I would like” and « je voudrai » means “I will like”, non ?
(I know I’m supposed to write in French, but my French isn’t that good yet, you know.)
You’re right. There is indeed a space before “?” in French.
“Je voudrai” does mean “I will like”. But nobody really uses it.
Yes, I’ve read quite a bit about French typographic rules and I’m trying to follow. But I’m still getting used to the ‘flying’ French question mark and the spacey « guillemets ». Interestingly, when I write (not type) in English, I find it more natural to leave a space before “?”, “!”, and “:”, as it makes them stand out more. A non-breaking space (espace insécable) before the above-mentioned punctuation marks is important to make sure that “?” or ”!” doesn’t hang on its own.
Par exemple :
“I hate it when this happens
! And I still don’t know how to equally insert a non-breaking space in «
Androïd » (other than copying and pasting of course).”
Do the French say « non ? » sometimes instead of « n’est-ce pas ? »?
Yeah, we use “non” in less formal settings. “N’est-ce pas” is rather formal and you’ll rarely hear it in spoken French.
Eh bien, les tomates sont dégoûtant et vous … Euh aimés à manges ces et euh donc je ne vais pas vous embrasser.
Very imaginative 🙂
J’ai enfin décidé de passer de ce lieu terrible
Hola Sonja! What do you mean exactly with “passer” ? “Go to”?
Hola Benjamin! I tried to say move, like moving from a place to another. Example moving from a house to another.
Ah ok. You can say “J’ai enfin décidé de quitter ce lieu terrible” ou ‘J’ai enfin décidé de déménager”.
Ok thanks a lot!
Bon ben, merci pour l’article! C’était informative quoi.
De rien, ça fait plaisir de lire ça quoi.
Tu pense que nous sommes des idiots hein? J’ai jamais gagner un jeu comme ca tu sais? c’est toujours les escrocs qui les lancent!
Mais non, mais non, c’est un vrai jeu, et j’ai déjà choisi un gagnant 🙂
Salut! Ton nom est Hein, hein? 😉 (PS. Hein is a male name in my country, South Africa)
My name is Houy actually :).
Et donc, et voilà aussi, Mais oui?
Mais oui 🙂