It means "is", so yes, they do. It's used for predication instead of existence (iru & aru are for existence), but that's probably the more common is in English

It means "is", so yes, they do. It's used for predication instead of existence (iru & aru are for existence), but that's probably the more common is in English as well. If you want filler, it's when people are going え～と while trying to collect their thoughts.