Filler words: a list, why we use them, and clips that cut them out
Filler words are the sounds and small words that fill a pause while we think: um, uh, er, erm, and words like "like", "you know" and "I mean" when they add nothing to the sentence. Everyone uses them, and research on real conversation finds speakers use them to signal a pause. Burncaps' clips take them out for you: drop a talking video, choose Clips, and each clip comes back with its ums, uhs, stutters and long pauses cut. The whole video is never cut: it keeps every word, um and pause as you recorded them.
- Free, no sign-up
- Ums cut in clips
- Video never uploaded
Live preview, rendered on this page by the same engine that burns your video.
Filler words, with examples
Some fillers are only sounds. Others are real words doing a filler's job: "like" in "I like tea" is a verb, but in "it was, like, freezing" it fills a beat. The last column says what a Burncaps clip does with each, from its own code.
| Filler | In a sentence | In a Burncaps clip |
|---|---|---|
| Um, erm | "So, erm, the shop opens at nine" | Cut |
| Uh, er | "It was, er, a Tuesday" | Cut |
| Ah, hmm, mm | "Hmm, let me think about that" | Cut |
| Uh-huh, mm-hmm | The listener's noises in an interview | Cut |
| A word said twice | "I I think the the point is" | The first copy cut, the second kept |
| A phrase started again | "It was, it was the best week" | The first copy cut, the last kept |
| Hunting for a word | "It's the, what's it called, the hinge" | Cut, like an um |
| Like | "It was, like, freezing" | Kept in the middle; trimmed only as a lead-in at the very start |
| You know, I mean | "It's, you know, harder than it looks" | Kept in the middle; trimmed only as a lead-in at the very start |
| So, well, right, okay, basically, actually | "So, the first thing to know is" | Kept in the middle; trimmed only as a lead-in at the very start |
| Literally | "It's literally next door" | Kept, as you said it |
Emphasis is not a filler
A word repeated with a comma for emphasis ("no, no", "very, very good") is said twice on purpose, so a clip keeps both. Only a small word said twice ("the the", "I, I") or a short phrase said again ("it was, it was") counts as a stumble.
Why we use filler words
Filler words are part of how unscripted speech works. One well-known study treats them as signals a speaker sends on purpose.
A pause, announced
Herbert Clark and Jean Fox Tree studied large collections of real conversation and found that speakers say "uh" before what they expect to be a short delay and "um" before a longer one.
A signal to the listener
The same study found speakers use them to show they are searching for a word, deciding what to say next, keeping their turn, or handing it over.
Words, not noise
Their argument is that "uh" and "um" are ordinary English words, which speakers plan and say just as they would any other word.
The source
Herbert H. Clark and Jean E. Fox Tree, "Using uh and um in spontaneous speaking", Cognition 84(1), pages 73 to 111, May 2002. Its abstract was read on PubMed (PMID 12062148) on 8 November 2026. The study does not say whether fillers cost a video its viewers, and this page makes no such claim.
How to say fewer filler words
- Let the pause be silent. A short silence reads as thought; an um reads as hesitation. In a Burncaps clip a long silence is shortened just as an um is cut, so a quiet pause costs you nothing.
- Know your first sentence. Most ums come at the start of a thought. Decide the opening line and the main points before you press record.
- Slow down a little. Speaking fast leaves less time to find the next word. The speaking speed test tells you your pace in words a minute.
- Record in short sections. A take of a minute or two is easier to say cleanly than ten minutes in one go. A teleprompter helps if you work from a script.
- Listen back. A recording of yourself shows where the fillers cluster, usually in the same few places every time.
What a Burncaps clip cuts, and what it keeps
Choose Clips and Burncaps finds the best moments of a talk, podcast or interview, then edits each one the way an editor cuts a talking head. These are the rules, from its own code.
| What | The rule |
|---|---|
| Filler sounds | Um, uh, er, erm, ah, hmm, mm, uh-huh and mm-hmm, however many letters they are written with ("ummm"), wherever the speech model writes them down |
| Fillers the model left out | The speech model sometimes skips an um and leaves a gap; the pause rule below usually takes it out with the silence around it |
| Stutters and restarts | The same word said twice in quick succession, and a run of two to four words said again straight away: the first copies go, the last one stays |
| Long pauses | Any silence between words longer than about a third of a second is shortened, with 0.15 seconds of breath kept on each side so no word is clipped |
| The opening | A few small lead-in words before the first real sentence ("So", "Well,", "you know", "I mean", "basically") can be trimmed so the clip opens on the point; the same words in the middle of the clip stay |
| Your own choice | The clip's script shows every word as it was heard, cut words struck through: click a word to keep it or cut it |
The whole video keeps every word
Captions on the whole video, up to ten minutes, never cut anything out: the picture and sound play every word, um and pause as you recorded them, and the captions follow the words as they were heard. To take the ums out, make a clip of the stretch you want. Clips need a video file: an audio file gives its script and subtitle files, and Burncaps writes no sound file of its own.
How to get a clip with the ums taken out
- Drop the video. An MP4 or MOV of up to three hours and 10 GB, on a phone or a computer. It is read on your device and never uploaded.
- Choose Clips. Burncaps listens, then lists the best moments, ranked, each starting where a thought starts and ending where the speaker finished the point.
- Open a clip and read its script. The fillers and long pauses are already out, struck through. Keep or cut any word, or move the clip's start and end.
- Export. One 9:16 MP4 with the cuts, the captions and an opening card, framed on whoever is talking.
What it costs
Free: 2 videos every 30 days, each with captions and up to 3 clips, no watermark, no sign-up. Then try Pro free for 7 days, no card. Pro is $29 a month for unlimited clips and captions; Starter is $9.98 a month or $49 once.
Questions, answered plainly
What are filler words?
Filler words are the sounds and small words speakers use to fill a pause while they think, such as um, uh, er and erm, and words like 'like', 'you know' and 'I mean' when they add nothing to the meaning of the sentence. Everyone uses them in unscripted speech.
What are examples of filler words?
Um, uh, er, erm, ah, hmm and mm; listening noises such as uh-huh and mm-hmm; and words used as fillers, such as like, you know, I mean, basically, actually, literally, so, well, right and okay. Repeating a word ('the the') or starting a phrase again ('it was, it was') does the same job.
Why do people say um and uh?
To signal a delay. In a study of large collections of real conversation, Herbert Clark and Jean Fox Tree (Cognition, 2002) found that speakers say uh before what they expect to be a short pause and um before a longer one, and use them to show they are searching for a word, deciding what to say, keeping their turn or handing it over. They argue uh and um are ordinary English words, planned like any other.
How do I stop saying um?
Let the pause be silent: a short silence reads as thought, where an um reads as hesitation. Slow down a little, know your first sentence and your main points before you start, and record in short sections rather than one long take. Listening back to a recording of yourself shows where the ums cluster.
Can Burncaps remove filler words from my video?
From clips, yes, automatically. Drop a talking video and choose Clips: each clip comes back with its ums, uhs, ers, stutters, restarts and long pauses cut, captioned and at 9:16. The clip's script shows every cut word struck through; click a word to keep it or cut it. The whole video is never cut: it keeps every word and pause as recorded.
Does it cut 'like' and 'you know'?
Not in the middle of a clip: they can carry meaning ('I like it', 'you know her'), so they stay as you said them. At the very start of a clip, up to three small lead-in words such as 'So', 'Well', 'And' or 'Like' before the first real sentence can be trimmed so the clip opens on the point. You can cut any other word yourself with a click.
Burncaps facts, checked 8 November 2026
What it is: a browser tool that burns animated word-by-word captions into a talking video, or finds the best moments of a talk, podcast or interview and gives them back as ranked, captioned 9:16 clips.
Price: free for 2 videos every 30 days, each one recording with its captioned video and up to 3 clips, no mark and no sign-up; then the free 7-day Pro trial, no card (your email only); then Pro, $29 a month, gives unlimited clips and captioned videos, or Starter, $9.98 a month or $49 once, gives unlimited captioned videos. Starter paid once is not a subscription.
Privacy: the video never leaves your browser. The sound goes only to our speech service, on a phone unless you switch it off, on a computer only if you choose it. Because the video never reaches us, we cannot keep it or train AI on it, and we train no AI on anything you make.
Files: MP4 or MOV in, MP4 out. Captions on the whole video: up to ten minutes. Clips: up to three hours, on a phone or a computer. SRT, VTT, ASS and text files are free without limit for recordings up to ten minutes; a longer recording, up to three hours, gives its script and those files (the first ten minutes free, all of it as one of your free videos, in the trial or with Pro or Starter) and its clips (every one found and shown before you sign up; up to 3 from each free video exported free, every one in the trial or with Pro).
Clips: about one clip for every two minutes of talk, up to 30, ranked, the ones we would post first circled, each showing the words it opens and ends on and the reason it was chosen; each cut to 9:16 with ums and dead air removed, an opening card and captions, framed on whoever is talking. Every clip of the whole recording is found and shown, free and with no sign-up; each free video exports up to 3 of them, and the 7-day trial and Pro export every clip, unlimited.
Languages and styles: captions in the language spoken, twelve Indian languages heard on your device, translation into 59 languages, 60 caption styles.
After it listens: correct any word (one click changes it everywhere), add or cut words, one to six words at a time, position, size, text and highlight colours, and names this browser remembers, all free and without listening again.
Made by: Jordan Labs Ltd, UK company no. 17358646.
Against other tools: twelve AI clipping tools by what their free plans export.