The Chinese "Um"?

[Wang Yao]

Hey there everyone. This is something that has been puzzling me for a little while now - and that is, what word do Chinese use (orally) for what we have in English as "um"?

I have quite a few Chinese friends and I have heard a variety of these "pause-words" as I call them. The most common I've heard is people saying "那个。。。" throughout their sentences whenever they pause to think, though I have also heard the standard "mmm", "um", and sometimes just pure silence.

I'm wondering if there even is a standard "um" phrase (either orally or in the written language) in Chinese, what word is used most often, and does it really matter - is simply "um" like we say in English fine?

I know it seems like a weird question to ask, but I always find I get weird looks when I'm talking with my Chinese friends in Chinese and I burst out an "um". So, yeah, just wondering, really.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

- W. Yao.

[rivercao]

IMO:

这个... Umm

那么... So

就是说... which means

[huaxia]

how about "嗯..."? as a native speaker, sometimes I find myself use 嗯 a lot when I need a bit time to organize my thoughts when talking.

[Wang Yao]

@rivercao: Ah, okay - I'm guessing those three could be interchanged as well? (Like depending on the situation, would you use one more likely than another.. or would you just say whichever comes to mind first? Sorry if these seem like very basic/weird questions...)

@huaxia: Oh, I hadn't even thought of 嗯.. thank you!

[fengyixiao]

呣、唔、喔、哦、喏、嗯

[hongjia]

It's really up to u. u can use whatever u want to these pause-words (语气词) 通常有"口"子旁 ( usually have a sign of "口" in the left-hand ). To be nature to use thses words is important, otherwise it will be very noisy.

[Wang Yao]

@fengyixiao: Thank you for the list! I will review those thoroughly. ^_^

@hongjia: 哦，通常有“口“子旁吧。。 相似fengyixiao的字吗？

[rivercao]

@rivercao: Ah, okay - I'm guessing those three could be interchanged as well? (Like depending on the situation, would you use one more likely than another.. or would you just say whichever comes to mind first? Sorry if these seem like very basic/weird questions...)

Different people use different words, I like to say "嗯" when orgamising my thoughts.

But in a lecture, or a seminar, you can't say "嗯' because if you say that audience will think you are not well prepared. Usually they say "那么" or "所以", like "so" in English.

[skylee]

I like to answer with 哦 as it sounds korean.

[calibre2001]

I like to answer with 哦 as it sounds korean.

Is this the cantonese '係wor.....' 'wor' sound?

[Shi Tong]

I dont think it's this word, but it's the pronunciation of what I usually hear: 阿 ē​.....​

Almost exactly the same as the English IMO.

[vampire]

that's 呃...

[calibre2001]

I'm surprised no one pointed the Taiwanese 耶 sound.

[Shi Tong]

Thanks vampire!

I'm surprised no one pointed the Taiwanese 耶 sound.

Never heard that one?!:mrgreen:

I have heard 耶 as a third tone end particle though.

[Brian US]

It also seems fine to draw out the word while you think (但是rrr, 我觉得ehhh). I've been trying pretty hard lately to get rid of my um's and ahh's, especially as an ahh sound will throw off the listener thinking it's the start of another word.

Also, as rivercao pointed out, it's different in formal speech. Every English/public speaking class I've had says to drop the um's. It may seem like an eternity of awkward silence, but a second pause is nothing to worry about.

[Shi Tong]

To err is human, especially when speaking a second language, so give yourself a break, Brian!

I'd say that Taiwanese Mandarin speakers are past masters of the end particle, which could be seen as a hesitation on occasion, saying sentences like:

这到(is this the right dao4?)菜很好吃(噢), 可是臭豆腐很臭(ㄝ/也). 要不要去买别的东西来吃(吧/喽)

So you have an o(噢), an (ㄝ) or a ye (也), and then easily a ba or a lou (吧/喽) at the ends. I think this is totally natural, and these could all be seen as hesitation sounds/ words/ methods!

[skylee]

这到(is this the right dao4?)菜

No, it should be 道.

And (吧/喽) is not right there.

[anonymoose]

Speaking of sentence suffixes, they are widely used in Singapore, and even spill over into the English (or should that be Singlish?).

[Shi Tong]

Thanks skylee

and even spill over into the English (or should that be Singlish?).

Yesla, I know what you mean!

[songlei]

rivercao is right, the chinese don't really uhm. jiushishuo, jiushi, wo de yisi shi shuo, zhege, nage, these are all meaningless phrases (depending on the context of course) that can be used to buy yourself time when trying to say something difficult. us learners of chinese can also use it to trick chinese people into believing we can actually speak their language.