A student analysing a transcript notices a speaker says 'um' and 'er' several times mid-sentence. What is the linguistic term for these sounds?

Q: How do I try a free AQA English Language question?

Just tap any of the four options on this page — no signup, no card, nothing to install. You'll see the correct answer and a full mark-scheme-style explanation within a second. Each visit shows a fresh randomly-picked question from the live AQA GCSE English Language bank, so you can keep refreshing to try different ones before deciding whether to create a free account for daily access.

Q: Is Kramizo really free for AQA English Language students?

Yes — completely free. Every student gets 45 questions a day on the free plan, across any board and any subject, with no card required and no trial countdown. Kramizo's optional Pro plan removes the daily cap and adds analytics, but the free plan is genuinely free forever. We make money from the small percentage of students who choose to upgrade — not from selling data or ads.

Q: Are the English Language questions aligned to the AQA GCSE syllabus?

Every question is written against the published AQA GCSE English Language syllabus and reviewed for accuracy before being added to the bank. We match the command words (state, describe, explain, evaluate), mark allocations, and difficulty tier you'll see on real AQA past papers. Explanations are written in the style of official examiner mark schemes so students learn exactly what marks are being awarded for.

Question

A student analysing a transcript notices a speaker says 'um' and 'er' several times mid-sentence. What is the linguistic term for these sounds?

Accepted Answer

C) Filled pauses — Filled pauses are vocalisations such as 'um' and 'er' that speakers produce while formulating their next words. They differ from discourse markers, which organise speech, and hedges, which express uncertainty about content.

Answer

B) Hedges

Answer

A) Discourse markers

Answer

D) Deixis

Answer

C) Filled pauses

One real English Language question.No signup. 30 seconds.

One real English Language question.
No signup. 30 seconds.