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Sometimes I feel the need to fill a gap, while conversing, with something that in English would be filled with "you know" in the sense described by thefreedictionary.com:

Used parenthetically in conversation, as to fill pauses or educe the listener's agreement or sympathy: Please try to be, you know, a little quieter

In case people are used to say something analogue in Russian, which expression can be used?

c.p.
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5 Answers5

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Those expressions are called "fillers".

Russian, as most languages, has many of them: как бы, типа, знаешь, так сказать etc:

They usually don't need to be translated verbatim:

  • Постарайся вести себя, ну, знаешь, потише
  • Постарайся вести себя как бы потише
  • Постарайся вести себя, типа, потише
  • Постарайся вести себя, так сказать, потише

are all valid.

In Russian linguistics, those are called "parasitic words" (слова-паразиты)

Quassnoi
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    у меня иногда подозрение, что не в русской лингвистике они так называются, а в среде учительниц русского языка))) – shabunc Apr 22 '13 at 18:08
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    И правильно называются =) Очень точное определение, пусть и неофициальное. Привычка "типкать" и "экать" в паузах между словами прилепляется очень прочно =) – petajamaja Apr 22 '13 at 18:12
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    @petajamaja, ну я б всё-таки слова вроде "знаешь, послушай" не стал бы в одну кучу с эканьем. Они иногда привносят определённый оттенок теплоты в беседу)) – shabunc Apr 23 '13 at 06:55
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    @petajamaja They are not just "parasitic words", they are also called "discursive words". – Artemix May 22 '13 at 06:44
  • @Artemix - Wow, such a nice article! thanks =) – petajamaja May 22 '13 at 13:05
  • That was a fantastic article! By the way, I believe we call these "discourse words" in English. – CocoPop Jun 01 '14 at 13:02
  • Just to add that each of the aforementioned words carries a different flavour and would be used in slightly difference circumstances: "типа" is less cultured, more suited to a street youth, while "так сказать" is more cultured and old-timey. – Qwerty Dec 23 '14 at 15:47
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Here are some more possibilities:

  • Слышишь, веди себя потише.
  • Видишь ли, надо себя вести потише.
  • Веди себя, понимаешь, потише.
Dima
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"знаешь ли"

Знаешь ли, дорогой, веди себя потише.

Anixx
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  • so, if I speak with some woman, "дорогая". Wouldn't I need to be very close to the person to say that? – c.p. Apr 22 '13 at 18:03
  • @c.p. no. i would say, it is a kind of sarcasm, like addressing somebody "уважаемый". – Anixx Apr 22 '13 at 18:27
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    @c.p. the "знаешь ли", especially the "ли" makes it less polite, if you want to be more polite you better not to use it. If you are addressing a close person, you can say "знаешь" or "знаешь что". – Anixx Apr 22 '13 at 18:31
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    "знаешь ли" would implyes continuation like "знаешь ли, дорогой, веди себя потише, а то ведь я могу и по морде надавать". – Anixx Apr 22 '13 at 18:34
  • @Anixx, 100% agree, but such a funny example =) – petajamaja Apr 22 '13 at 20:49
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Russian language has many lexical constructions which can be considered as "fillers".

Some of them:

Вводные слова (introductory words)

видишь ли, здесь все не так просто - you see, everything is not so simple here

Частицы (co-words making sentence more expressive)

вы бы залатили за аренду квартиры - would you pay for renting an apartment

johntheripper
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try please: можете, пожалуйста, вести себя потише?

reasonable_assumption
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    Welcome to Russian Language and Usage Beta! It's a very succinct answer, we usually prefere more elaborated ones. As it stands, it's at risk to be downvoted and eventually removed. Also, your translation seem to fit for the sentence, but I'm not sure whether пожалуйста can be translated as "you know" as a general rule. Could you elaborate? – c.p. May 21 '13 at 18:13