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intermediate · conversation

يَعني

Buying yourself time

The filler words that let you think mid-sentence

The gap between knowing a word and finding it is where most conversations break down. These are the noises a native speaker makes while thinking — using them buys you two or three seconds and stops the other person taking over.

Keywords

  • functional

Phrases

"يَعني" on its own, drawn out, is the single most useful sound in the language. It means I'm still talking, give me a second.

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