えーと
えーと
hepburn eeto
um..., let me see...
Part of speech · interjection
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- えーと、今日は…Um, today…
- えーと、お名前は?Uh, your name?
Collocations
えーと (eeto, "um / let me think")あの (ano, hesitation/attention)ええと (ee to, alternative spelling)まあ (maa, "well, kind of")なんか (nanka, "like / sort of")
Mnemonic
えーと eeto — Japanese hesitation marker matching English "um / uh", Korean "eum / jeo". Etymology unclear; possibly ええ (affirmative sound) + と (quotative). Buys thinking time while keeping natural speech flow. Foreigners who freeze in silence sound awkward and immature — native speakers actively pepper conversation with hesitation markers. Cluster: あの (attention/hesitation), まあ ("well"), なんか ("like / sort of"), とりあえず ("for now"). The secret to natural-sounding Japanese is filling silences with these markers. PATCH-4 v2: hesitation words are utterance-system parts; expect cross-batch reuse.
Quick check
Five Japanese hesitation markers to replace silence?