列First sentences
Lists of things
Japanese has different words for “and”, depending on whether your list is complete.
Start with a puzzle
Which speaker bought only two things?
First speaker
パンと卵を買いました。Pan to tamago o kaimashita.Second speaker
パンや卵を買いました。Pan ya tamago o kaimashita.The set
Four ways to list
milk and sugar
と: the complete list.
books, magazines and the like
や: examples from a longer list, about something specific.
things like sushi and tempura
とか: casual examples. The last とか is often kept.
Tokyo, Osaka and so on
など: “and so on” at the end of a list.
Important limits
と only joins nouns
English “and” joins anything: “I ate and left.” と can't do that. It lists nouns only, so you need the て form to join verbs, which comes later. や also joins only nouns.
とか can list whole actions in casual speech: 映画を見るとか本を読むとかします, “I do things like watch movies and read books.”
A nuance of など
It can sound humble, or dismissive
Someone like me still has far to go.
About yourself, it's modest.
I don't want to hear talk like that.
About others, with a negative, it can sound scornful.
In conversation
なんか, and とかいう
Oh, someone like me has a long way to go.
なんか is casual など, with more feeling behind it.
I don't want to do homework or anything like that.
Its scorn is stronger, too.
Someone called Yamamoto, or something like that, came by.
とか before 言う: you aren't sure you've got the name right.
Check yourself
Which word fits?
I have one dog and one cat, and that's all.
Say it yourself
Your weekend
A friend asks what you usually eat on weekends. Mention a couple of foods without making it sound like the whole list.
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