Swati from Bengaluru recorded a four-minute practice answer and counted “basically” fourteen times.

A few natural fillers in IELTS Speaking, such as “well”, “let me think” and “I’d say”, are normal in conversation. The problem is habitual fillers repeated in every sentence, or long “umm” sounds, which make your speech sound hesitant and repetitive.

Practice question: What kind of music do you enjoy?

What the Fluency Descriptors Say About Repetition

The official key assessment criteria list “spoken discourse markers and fillers” among the ways to mark the stages of an answer. They also say speech should ideally not be interrupted by functionless repetitions of words and phrases, or by pausing while you search for words.

At Band 6, coherence may be lost at times because of hesitation, repetition and self-correction. A filler in every sentence is one way that repetition can happen.

At Band 7, some hesitation, repetition or self-correction is accepted as long as it does not affect coherence. So no filler is banned; the issue is a habit that interrupts your flow.

Five Common Fillers: Helpful vs Distracting

Some fillers do a job in conversation, while others become habits.

Filler Natural use When it hurts Try instead
Basically Summarising a complex explanation Opening every sentence as a reflex State your point directly
Actually Correcting a polite misunderstanding Used repeatedly without a contrast “In fact”, or a short pause
Like Giving an approximate number or example Inserted before every noun “About”, or leave it out
You know Checking shared knowledge Used when explaining new ideas Leave a brief silent pause
Umm / Uhh A brief thinking sound Long, dragged sounds between words Take a quiet breath

Indian English Habits Used as Fillers

Some speakers of Indian English use “only”, “itself” and “na” for emphasis or as tags, and an international listener may not follow them. “I’ll do it now only” means “I’ll do it right now”, “at the station itself” means “right at the station”, and “na” works like “right?”.

Opening every response with “basically” or “actually” is another habit to watch. Our guide to Indian English habits in IELTS covers more.

Incorrect: “Basically, actually I am from Mysuru only.”

Correct: “I’m from Mysuru, a city in southern Karnataka.”

Standard English states where you are from directly, with no extra tags.

Compare Two Answers: Habitual vs Natural

Here is the same answer with habitual fillers and then with natural delivery.

Weaker answer (illustrative)

Basically, I enjoy listening to Bollywood music only, because, you know, it is actually very catchy. Like, whenever I am travelling to work, umm, I basically put on my headphones and listen to upbeat tracks. It just, you know, refreshes my mind completely, na?

Sample answer (illustrative Band 7)

Well, I mostly listen to contemporary Indian film soundtracks and acoustic pop. When I commute to work by metro, energetic tracks help me wake up and focus for the day. In the evenings, though, I prefer mellow acoustic songs because they let me unwind after long hours at my desk.

Why it works: The Band 7 sample uses one natural opener (“Well”) and one link (“though”), and every sentence adds a new idea.

How to Cut Habitual Fillers

Breaking the habit takes two steps. First, record yourself answering a question and count how often you use your most common filler. Counting makes the habit visible.

Second, replace the filler with a short silent pause. The key indicators of coherence mention appropriate use of pausing, so a pause can mark the move to your next idea. See our guide to Fluency and Coherence, and for phrases that buy time, our guide to going blank in Speaking.

Tip

When you feel the urge to say “umm” or “basically”, close your lips and take a brief breath.

Try It

Rewrite this short answer without the distracting fillers and emphatic words.

“Basically, actually I think reading books is, like, very important because, you know, umm, it increases our knowledge only.”

Show sample answer

I think reading is really important because it adds to what we know and shows us new ideas.

Key Takeaways

  • The descriptors mention hesitation and repetition, not individual filler words.
  • Natural markers like “well” sound conversational when used sparingly.
  • Swap “only”, “itself” and “na” for standard ways of adding emphasis.
  • A short silent pause gives you time to think.

The bottom line: Fillers start as habits rather than gaps in your English, so hearing your own is the first step to dropping them.