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!
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!
Krishna Shah
March 22, 2019 at 11:28 amLe francais est facile, tu sais…!! (sarcasm)
adena
January 23, 2019 at 11:46 pmC’est l’heure de dormir tu sais
Un mec
August 17, 2018 at 5:21 amBon ben, je dois partir ou je serais en retard pour travaille, tu sais. Bref, je ne peux pas t’attend, au revoir!
Kate Jackson
March 1, 2017 at 5:36 amEuh…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
Benjamin Houy
March 1, 2017 at 3:44 pmParfait Kate 🙂
Anshul
January 10, 2017 at 10:42 pmeuh, 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.
mhello
June 23, 2016 at 12:48 am@Benjamin Who is the lucky guy? 🙂 The course starts today! 🙂
Benjamin Houy
June 23, 2016 at 10:08 amDenny Stein won, but your sentence was great too 🙂
mhello
June 23, 2016 at 10:24 amBravo! 🙂 @Denny Stein
mhello
June 23, 2016 at 10:47 amThank you, Benjamin! 🙂
Vanessa
June 17, 2016 at 4:34 pmEh bien, je pense que l’utilisation de ces mots me fera semblant avoir euh…quelques moins de points de QI tu sais!
Janet Lingel Aldrich
June 16, 2016 at 12:43 amBon ben, je vais créer une phrase …. mais bien que je ne pense pas que Ben me adjuger le livre.
maffiong
June 15, 2016 at 5:53 amMais enfin c’est tout le monde qui aura besoin du livre quoi
Nathan Whiting
June 14, 2016 at 3:07 pmEst-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…
Benjamin Houy
June 14, 2016 at 8:40 amCette phrase est parfaite 🙂
mhello
June 13, 2016 at 2:03 pmEuh … tu sais, enfin, je vais obtenir un cours, quoi? Quand même cette phrase peut-être n’est pas correcte! Bon ben! 🙂
Shaked Eizman
June 12, 2016 at 7:21 pmje t’aime, quand meme tu as des chats
Benjamin Houy
June 13, 2016 at 12:01 pmBonjour Shaked
Do you want to say “even though”? In this case, you can say “je t’aime, même si tu as des chats”.
Shaked Eizman
June 13, 2016 at 12:45 pmlooks like I really need the book;)
Madeline Currie
June 12, 2016 at 12:05 amEh 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!
Benjamin Houy
June 13, 2016 at 12:02 pmGreat sentence Madeline. Just one thing: “I need” is “j’ai besoin”, so you can say “j’ai besoin de 30 Day French”.
Megan B
June 11, 2016 at 3:40 pmEh bien, il semble que nous sommes prêts à ennuyer les français, tu sais?
Benjamin Houy
June 13, 2016 at 12:02 pmLes pauvres :p.
Joseann Freyer-Lindner
June 11, 2016 at 1:39 pmEst-ce que tu as oublié le mot “donc”? Je l’écoute toujours…
Benjamin Houy
June 13, 2016 at 12:03 pmAh oui. Je vais ajouter “donc” :).
Mair
June 10, 2016 at 6:26 pmTu as dejà choisi un gagnant, hein? Eh bien, je laisse un commentarie quand meme, quoi!
Benjamin Houy
June 13, 2016 at 12:03 pmEh oui. Mais tu aurais pu être le gagnant avec cette phrase :).
ramira
June 10, 2016 at 2:02 pmje suis tres mal a parler francais tu sais, donc j’ai besoin de 30 DayFrench, hein?
Benjamin Houy
June 13, 2016 at 12:04 pmBonjour Ramira. It’s better to say “j’ai du mal à parler français” 🙂
FrenchyonLplates
June 10, 2016 at 3:59 amJe parle francais comme une vache espagnole, tu sais! 🙂
Benjamin Houy
June 10, 2016 at 6:39 amBelle maitrise des expressions idiomatiques françaises 🙂
me
June 9, 2016 at 8:08 pmLe mot “hein” veut dire “right?”,n’est-ce pas?
Benjamin Houy
June 10, 2016 at 6:39 amC’est ça 🙂
Maria
June 9, 2016 at 7:23 pmEst-il possible de regarder la vidéo aux États-Unis?
Benjamin Houy
June 10, 2016 at 6:39 amOui 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/
Denny Stein
June 9, 2016 at 5:12 pmEnfin bref, je voudrai un copie de 30 Days French. Parce que, tu sais, j’ai besoin d’apprendre le français tout de suite, hein?
Benjamin Houy
June 10, 2016 at 6:50 amParfait :). I sent you an email with your copy of 30 Day French.
Benjamin Lau
October 20, 2016 at 5:10 amFélicitations 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.)
Benjamin Houy
October 20, 2016 at 8:57 amYou’re right. There is indeed a space before “?” in French.
“Je voudrai” does mean “I will like”. But nobody really uses it.
Benjamin Lau
October 20, 2016 at 10:35 amYes, 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 ? »?
Benjamin Houy
October 21, 2016 at 3:26 amYeah, we use “non” in less formal settings. “N’est-ce pas” is rather formal and you’ll rarely hear it in spoken French.
Alpacalaca
June 9, 2016 at 4:35 pmEh bien, les tomates sont dégoûtant et vous … Euh aimés à manges ces et euh donc je ne vais pas vous embrasser.
Benjamin Houy
June 10, 2016 at 6:50 amVery imaginative 🙂
Sonja Aquino Paulino
June 9, 2016 at 4:26 pmJ’ai enfin décidé de passer de ce lieu terrible
Benjamin Houy
June 10, 2016 at 6:51 amHola Sonja! What do you mean exactly with “passer” ? “Go to”?
Sonja Aquino Paulino
June 10, 2016 at 3:13 pmHola Benjamin! I tried to say move, like moving from a place to another. Example moving from a house to another.
Benjamin Houy
June 13, 2016 at 12:05 pmAh ok. You can say “J’ai enfin décidé de quitter ce lieu terrible” ou ‘J’ai enfin décidé de déménager”.
Sonja Aquino Paulino
June 13, 2016 at 4:24 pmOk thanks a lot!
Nathalie
June 9, 2016 at 4:20 pmBon ben, merci pour l’article! C’était informative quoi.
Benjamin Houy
June 10, 2016 at 6:51 amDe rien, ça fait plaisir de lire ça quoi.
Steve Clarke
June 9, 2016 at 2:39 pmTu 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!
Benjamin Houy
June 10, 2016 at 6:52 amMais non, mais non, c’est un vrai jeu, et j’ai déjà choisi un gagnant 🙂
Dian Wessels
June 9, 2016 at 2:16 pmSalut! Ton nom est Hein, hein? 😉 (PS. Hein is a male name in my country, South Africa)
Benjamin Houy
June 10, 2016 at 6:55 amMy name is Houy actually :).
Katiana Ricci
June 9, 2016 at 1:58 pmEt donc, et voilà aussi, Mais oui?
Benjamin Houy
June 10, 2016 at 6:56 amMais oui 🙂