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Les Petits Mots — 12 filler words to sound native | Vocabulary

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Les Petits Mots

The 12 filler words that make you sound French — textbooks never teach them

1so / well…Alors, on commence ?
2right / OKBon, je dois y aller.
3well… (casual)Ben oui, évidemment !
4uh / ermC’est… euh… compliqué.
5actuallyEn fait, je préfère le thé.
6so / as a resultDu coup, on a annulé.
7likeIl est genre très connu.
8anyway / long story shortBref, on a raté le train.
9you know (end of sentence)C’est difficile, quoi.
10right? / eh?Il fait beau, hein ?
11you see / you knowC’est important, tu vois.
12honestly / franklyFranchement, c’était top.
🔊 Tap any word to hear it · learnfrench.co

🎬 The 20-second version

5 quick questions on « Les Petits Mots » — guess before the reveal. Practise with the free games → Open this short as a page — transcript included →

📘 How fillers actually work

  • Fillers buy you thinking time — instead of freezing, natives say euh… alors… en fait… That’s fluency insurance.
  • Du coup is the most overused word in modern spoken French — using it correctly is an instant native marker.
  • Quoi at the END of a sentence adds emphasis (c’est cher, quoi) — completely different from question quoi.
  • Ben (from “bien”) is pronounced [bɛ̃] like “bain” — ben oui ! = well, yeah!
  • Dose matters: one filler per sentence sounds native; five sounds nervous. Listen for them in French shows — you’ll hear them everywhere now.

🔊 Useful phrases

Alors… en fait, c’est une longue histoire.So… actually, it’s a long story.
Ben oui, du coup on est restés à la maison.Well yeah, so we stayed home.
C’était génial, quoi !It was just great, you know!

🔊 Example sentences

Bon, alors, qu’est-ce qu’on mange ?Right, so, what are we eating?
Franchement, hein, c’était pas terrible.Honestly, right, it wasn’t great.
Bref, tout est bien qui finit bien.Anyway, all’s well that ends well.

✍️ Practice

the modern spoken “so” = du ___ (most overused word)

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coup

« C’est compliqué, ___ . » (end-of-sentence emphasis) (you know)

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quoi

actually = en ___ (correction filler)

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fait

anyway / long story short = ___ (wrap it up)

Show answer

bref

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🎯 More practice — translation — put it into French

Translate into French: « Well yeah, so we stayed home. » (translation)

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Ben oui, du coup on est restés à la maison.

Translate into French: « It was just great, you know! » (translation)

Show answer

C’était génial, quoi !

Translate into French: « Right, so, what are we eating? » (translation)

Show answer

Bon, alors, qu’est-ce qu’on mange ?

Translate into French: « Honestly, right, it wasn’t great. » (translation)

Show answer

Franchement, hein, c’était pas terrible.

Translate into French: « Anyway, all’s well that ends well. » (translation)

Show answer

Bref, tout est bien qui finit bien.

📖

Go further: get the full picture in our guide How to practise French speaking — even alone.

French filler words — FAQ

What are the most common French filler words?

The everyday ones textbooks skip: ben, bah, alors, du coup, en fait, quoi, bon, voilà and genre. The list above has 12 with audio.

Why do filler words make you sound more French?

Native speakers rarely speak in clean textbook sentences — small words like du coup and quoi add natural rhythm and buy thinking time. Dropping them in instantly loosens up your French. Examples: « Alors… en fait, c’est une longue histoire. »; « Ben oui, du coup on est restés à la maison. »; « C’était génial, quoi ! ».

How do I use French filler words correctly?

Start each sentence with alors or ben, end casual ones with quoi, and use du coup for « so / as a result ». Listen for them in the audio above and copy the placement.

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