Fluent speakers are not inventing every sentence from scratch. They are reaching for phrases they have used hundreds of times. Borrow the same phrases and you buy yourself the same thinking time.
Fluent speakers are not building every sentence from grammar rules in real time. They are reaching for phrases they have said hundreds of times before. That is why their speech sounds effortless — most of it is pre-assembled.
You can borrow the same advantage. The phrases below are grouped by the moment you need them, because that is how you will retrieve them. Learn a handful from each group rather than reading the whole page once.
Starting a conversation
"Hi, how's it going?" · "How have you been?" · "Long time no see!"
"Do you mind if I join?" · "Is this seat taken?"
"I don't think we've met — I'm Sara."
"What brings you here?" · "So, what do you do?"
"How's it going?" is a greeting, not a real question. The expected answer is short — "Good, thanks, you?" — and then the conversation begins properly.
Buying yourself thinking time
"That's a good question." · "Let me think for a second."
"How can I put this…" · "The thing is…"
"Well, it depends." · "I'm not sure how to say this in English, but…"
These are the most valuable phrases on this page. Silence invites interruption; an audible pause holds the floor. Every fluent speaker uses them constantly.
When you did not understand
"Sorry, could you say that again?" · "Could you speak a bit more slowly, please?"
"I didn't catch the last part." · "What does … mean?"
"Do you mean …?" · "Sorry, I'm not following."
"How do you spell that?" · "What's the word for…?"
Native speakers say "sorry, I didn't catch that" to each other all day. Using it is not an admission of weak English — it is normal conversational repair.
Agreeing
"Exactly." · "That's true." · "Absolutely." · "Definitely."
"I couldn't agree more." · "You've got a point."
"Same here." · "Me too." / "Me neither."
Note: me too answers a positive ("I love coffee"), me neither answers a negative ("I don't like coffee").
Disagreeing politely
"I see what you mean, but…" · "That's fair, although…"
"I'm not so sure about that." · "I'd say the opposite, actually."
"I get where you're coming from, but…"
English disagreement is usually softened first. Starting with a flat "No, you're wrong" sounds far harsher than the same disagreement in many other languages.
Giving an opinion
"In my opinion…" · "If you ask me…" · "Personally, I think…"
"It seems to me that…" · "As far as I know…"
"I'd say…" · "To be honest…"
Keeping it going
"Really? Tell me more." · "What happened next?"
"How come?" · "What do you mean by that?"
"That reminds me of…" · "Speaking of which…"
"Oh, that's interesting — why?"
"How come?" is a casual "why?" and, usefully, it takes normal statement order: "How come you left early?" — not "How come did you leave".
Reacting
Good news: "That's great!" · "Congratulations!" · "I'm so happy for you."
Bad news: "I'm sorry to hear that." · "That's a shame." · "That must be hard."
Surprise: "No way!" · "Seriously?" · "You're kidding!"
Sympathy: "I know how you feel." · "Hang in there."
English speakers react audibly and often. Silence while someone tells a story can read as boredom, even when you are listening carefully.
Asking for things politely
"Could you…?" · "Would you mind…ing?" · "Do you think you could…?"
"Is it okay if I…?" · "I was wondering if…"
Careful with "Would you mind": the polite answer to "Would you mind opening the window?" is "Not at all" — because you are answering "do you object?".
Apologising and excusing
"Sorry about that." · "My bad." (casual) · "I apologise for the delay." (formal)
"Excuse me" — to get attention or get past someone.
"Sorry" — when you have done something wrong.
Ending a conversation
"Anyway, I should get going." · "It was great talking to you."
"Let's catch up soon." · "I'll let you go."
"Take care!" · "See you around."
"Anyway…" is the standard signal that a conversation is wrapping up. Leaving without one of these can feel abrupt.
Small filler words that buy rhythm
Well, so, actually, basically, anyway, I mean, you know, kind of, sort of, right.
Used in moderation these make speech sound natural; used constantly they become a tic. "I mean" is particularly useful because it lets you restart a sentence that went wrong without apologising for it.
On calls and video chats
Online conversation has its own small vocabulary, and needing it is completely normal — native speakers use these constantly too.
"Can you hear me okay?" · "You're breaking up a bit."
"Sorry, you're on mute." · "I think there's a bit of a delay."
"Sorry, go ahead — you first." · "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
"Could you turn your camera on?" · "I'll drop the link in the chat."
"Sorry, go ahead" is the standard repair when two people start speaking at once, which happens constantly on calls because of the delay. Having it ready means an awkward collision costs you one second instead of ten.
How to actually learn these
Do not try to memorise the page. Pick five phrases from two groups — ideally the thinking-time group and the did-not-understand group, since those two rescue more conversations than any others. Use them today, out loud, several times.
Then add five more next week. A phrase becomes yours when you have used it in a real conversation and someone responded normally; until then it is only recognised, not owned — the distinction explained in building vocabulary that sticks.
The fastest place to practise them is a live Space on Zeno, where you can say "sorry, could you say that again?" to a real person and discover that nothing bad happens. If that still feels like a lot, start with what to say after hello, which shows how the first two minutes are structured.