Every language has noises and little words people use while their brain catches up. Learning the Brazilian ones is one of the fastest ways to sound less foreign, because the silence you leave when you don't know them — or worse, the English "uhh" you fill it with — instantly marks you as a non-native. This page gives you the toolkit for buying time and for fixing what you just said mid-sentence.
Why fillers matter more than they look
A filler is not "empty." It tells your listener I'm still talking, don't take the floor, it signals you are searching for a word, and it keeps the conversation's rhythm human. Brazilians are sensitive to conversational flow, and they fill pauses readily. If you go silent while thinking, a Brazilian listener may assume you've finished and start talking — so learning to hold the floor with a filler is a practical survival skill.
The vocalized pauses: é, éééé, ã, hum
Então... é... eu acho que a gente devia esperar um pouco.
So... uh... I think we should wait a bit.
Você gostou? — Ã... mais ou menos, sabe?
Did you like it? — Uh... sort of, you know?
- é... / éééé (informal) — the workhorse vocalized pause. Stretch the vowel for a longer think. It happens to be identical in form to é ("it is"), but in this use it is purely a hesitation noise.
- ã / ãã (informal) — a nasal "uh," often while you decide what to say.
- hum / hmm (informal) — thinking-out-loud, or signalling mild doubt/consideration.
These carry no meaning; they are sound, not vocabulary. The key is that the Brazilian default vowel is é, not the English schwa "uh." Train your mouth to reach for é.
Lexical fillers: tipo, tipo assim, então, sei lá
These are real words pressed into filler service. They do double duty: they buy time and they hedge.
A festa foi, tipo, super cheia, sabe?
The party was, like, super crowded, you know?
Tipo assim, eu não sei se vale a pena ir tão longe.
Like, I mean, I don't know if it's worth going that far.
E aí, o que você achou? — Sei lá, não sei te dizer.
So, what did you think? — I dunno, I can't really say.
- tipo (informal) — the near-exact equivalent of conversational English "like." Same function, same slightly youthful flavor, same overuse stigma. Drop it in mid-clause to soften or to stall.
- tipo assim (informal) — "like, I mean..."; introduces an elaboration or example. Strongly associated with younger speakers.
- então (neutral→informal) — "so..."; classic turn-opener and thinking pause. Very versatile and not stigmatized.
- sei lá (informal) — literally "I know there," idiomatically "I dunno / who knows." A filler that also expresses genuine uncertainty or a shrug.
Word-search expressions: deixa eu ver, como é que fala
When you are hunting for a specific word or fact, Brazilians narrate the search out loud.
O prazo é... deixa eu ver... acho que é sexta-feira.
The deadline is... let me see... I think it's Friday.
Como é que fala... aquela coisa de cortar papel... tesoura!
What's it called... that thing for cutting paper... scissors!
- deixa eu ver (informal; literally "let me see") — buys time while you check or recall. The fully colloquial form is deixa eu ver, even though strict grammar would want deixe-me ver (formal).
- deixa eu pensar (informal) — "let me think."
- como é que fala / como é que chama (informal) — "what's the word / what's it called," when groping for vocabulary. Hugely useful for learners, because it both buys time and openly invites your listener to supply the word.
- qual é a palavra... (neutral) — "what's the word...", slightly more deliberate.
Self-repair: quer dizer, ou seja, melhor dizendo
This is the function English handles with "I mean": you said something, you want to revise or clarify it, and you flag the correction. Brazilian Portuguese has dedicated tools.
A reunião é amanhã, quer dizer, depois de amanhã. Confundi.
The meeting is tomorrow — I mean, the day after. I got mixed up.
Ele é meu primo, ou seja, filho do meu tio.
He's my cousin, that is, my uncle's son.
Custou caro, melhor dizendo, custou os olhos da cara.
It cost a lot — or rather, it cost an arm and a leg.
- quer dizer (neutral; literally "(it) means to say") — the primary "I mean," used both to correct yourself and to clarify. This is the one you'll use daily.
- ou seja (neutral→formal; "that is / in other words") — introduces a reformulation or a logical consequence. Common in both speech and writing.
- melhor dizendo / ou melhor (neutral) — "or rather / better put"; a cleaner correction.
- digo (neutral; literally "I say") — a quick, terse self-correction, like a spoken backspace.
Chega às três, digo, às quatro horas.
Arrive at three — I mean, four o'clock.
Contrast with English: it's not just translation
English speakers reach instinctively for um, uh, like, you know, I mean. The mapping is close but not identical, and using the English sounds is the giveaway:
| English | Brazilian Portuguese | Note |
|---|---|---|
| um / uh | é... / ã... | Different vowel — train for é |
| like | tipo / tipo assim | Same youthful stigma |
| so... | então... | Safe at all ages |
| you know | né / sabe / sabe como é | Seeks agreement too |
| I mean (self-repair) | quer dizer / digo / ou melhor | Dedicated repair markers |
| let me see / let me think | deixa eu ver / deixa eu pensar | Narrate the search |
| I dunno | sei lá | Also a shrug/hedge |
The deeper point: in Brazilian Portuguese the same little words often hedge and stall at once (tipo, sei lá, né), so filling time also softens your claim. That two-for-one is why fluent speech feels so cushioned.
Common Mistakes
❌ The deadline is... uhhh... Friday.
Using the English 'uhhh' inside Portuguese speech — instant foreigner tell.
✅ O prazo é... éééé... sexta.
The deadline is... uhh... Friday. — use the Portuguese vocalized pause.
The most common error isn't grammatical at all: it's importing English hesitation sounds. Even advanced learners leak "um" and "uh."
❌ (long silence while thinking, listener jumps in)
Silence cedes the floor — Brazilians may take it as 'you're done.'
✅ Então... deixa eu ver... é que...
So... let me see... the thing is... — fillers hold the floor.
❌ A reunião é amanhã. Não, não, espera, a reunião é depois de amanhã.
Heavy-handed restart with full repetition — clunky.
✅ A reunião é amanhã, quer dizer, depois de amanhã.
The meeting is tomorrow, I mean, the day after. — smooth native self-repair.
English speakers restart the whole sentence; Brazilians insert a tidy quer dizer and patch only the wrong word.
❌ Eu, like, não sei, like, o que fazer, like...
Borrowing English 'like' into Portuguese.
✅ Eu, tipo, não sei o que fazer, sabe?
I, like, don't know what to do, you know? — Portuguese 'tipo' is the equivalent.
Key Takeaways
- Default vocalized pause is é... (not English "uh"); add ã and hum for variety.
- tipo = "like," então = "so," sei lá = "I dunno" — lexical fillers that also hedge.
- Narrate word-searches with deixa eu ver / como é que fala, which double as invitations for help.
- Self-repair with quer dizer / digo / ou melhor, patching one word rather than restarting.
- The biggest fix isn't a word — it's deleting the English "um/uh/like" from your Portuguese.
Now practice Portuguese
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Discourse Particles: Né, Tá, Aí, EntãoA2 — A guide to the little words that do the interactional work of Brazilian conversation — né, tá, então, aí, sabe, olha, ó, pois é, and the vocative fillers cara and mano.
- Hedging in BR SpeechB1 — How Brazilians soften claims and disagreement with hedges like tipo, sei lá, meio que, acho que, and mais ou menos — and why piling them on is normal, not evasive.
- The Many Uses of 'Aí'B1 — How 'aí' goes far beyond 'there' to become the master narrative connector, greeting, and 'in that case' marker of spoken Brazilian Portuguese.
- Backchanneling (Active Listening Signals)B1 — The constant stream of 'sei', 'uhum', 'sério?', 'nossa!', 'entendi' that Brazilian listeners produce — and why staying silent reads as cold or hostile.