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Lesson 82: なんて, なんか, and など

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Today we're going to talk about three words that you'll encounter often in your immersion.

They have quite a wide meaning spectrum, and that means that dictionaries can't really cover the full range of what they mean, especially when, as they often are, they're used in very colloquial ways.

And I'd like to thank all the people who tell me which words give them trouble in immersion.

This helps me to know what to cover and in what order to cover it.

A lot of people wanted to know about "nante" and "nanka".

So if you have words that are giving you trouble, please pop them in the Comments below.

It's very helpful to know what it is that's causing problems.

So, the three words are "nado", "nante" and "nanka".

They have different meanings but they overlap in certain areas.

And the simplest one is "nado", so we're going to start off with that.

"Nado" essentially means pretty much what "etcetera" means in English, but the thing to bear in mind in formal language is that it has higher status than "etcetera" in English.

In English, "etcetera" tends to be treated in many cases as a bit of a cop-out.

It's a way of not really saying exactly what you mean.

In Japanese it has much higher status. Its meaning spectrum is broader.

You will encounter it both in completely formal writing and in informal conversation and writing.

It's an indispensable part of the language.

To give an example of its formal use, a dictionary definition of the word "shasou" -- and "shasou" is one of these words that I've talked about in a previous video, two-or-more-kanji words that really aren't words in quite the English sense of the word, that's to say, they are really phrases.

They bring together two known entities, which are known if we've done much Japanese, into what in English would simply be a phrase.

So we can throw these words into our Anki if we want to remind ourselves that they exist but we shouldn't treat them as completely new entities.

They're really just like phrases and this one is very close to the English phrase "car window", which isn't a word, it's just a phrase.

If we know "car" and we know "window", we know what a "car window" is.

So if we know "kuruma" and we know "mado" and we know the on-readings of the two, which are "sha" and "sou", then "shasou" really presents no problems,

except that we need to remember that "sha", the on-reading of "kuruma", refers to a broader range of vehicle.

"Kuruma" usually simply means a "jidousha" (an automobile) while "sha" can refer to any kind of surface vehicle.

A bicycle is a "jitensha", a train is a "densha", etcetera.

And the definition is: "jidousha nado no mado".

So essentially that means "the window of an automobile, etcetera", which in this case means any kind of a surface vehicle that has windows, so not a "jitensha" but a "densha", etcetera: "the window of a vehicle".

And this "nado" is a very typical use of the word.

It gets used freely in formal and informal Japanese.

In informal Japanese, "nado" also has another use, which overlaps with the other two words we're going to look at.

It can be used to mildly denigrate or belittle a word that it's attached to.

Now, "denigrate" and "belittle" are not exactly the right words to use here, but I don't think there are quite the right words in English.

It throws a negative light, which in the case of "nado" is usually making light of or slightly rejecting whatever it is.

So we might say, "tabako nado fuyou da", which means "I've no use for cigarettes". Now, "tabako-wa fuyou da" would mean the same thing essentially (notice that "nado" knocks out other particles).

The only difference here is that "nado" is throwing that slightly disparaging light on cigarettes.

So the way we could read it is something like, in English, "I don't need stuff like cigarettes".

Now, actually this doesn't mean that literally.

It's not saying I don't need cigarettes or cigars or a pipe or a hookah.

It means I don't need that kind of thing -- that's something I don't need in my life.

And as I say, this use overlaps with our other two words.

Both "nanka" and "nante" can be used in this throwing-a-negative-light-on-the-noun-they-follow way.

The strongest and most colloquial of the three is "nanka", and "nante" comes somewhere in the middle.

So, "nanka" is really a contraction of "nanika" (something), but it has quite a few colloquial uses.

And its denigrating one we'll hear sometimes very strongly in cases where...well, let's say in an anime a younger sister is angry with her older sister.

She may say, "oneechan nanka daikirai!" (I really hate stuff like my big sister).

Now, of course, that's not literally what she means.

She doesn't mean she hates "stuff like" her big sister, but by using this expression --"stuff like you", "stuff like my big sister" -- you're throwing a very disparaging light on what it is you're talking about.

It can be milder: we can say, "sakkaa nanka kyoumi-ga nai" (I've no interest in stuff like soccer / I'm not interested in soccer).

And it can be more mildly belittling still: we might say, "ame nanka heiki da". And what we're saying there is "Rain doesn't bother me / I'm not troubled by rain / I'm okay with rain".

And the "nanka" is just throwing that slightly diminishing light on the rain, indicating how little we're worried about it.

And it often gets used of oneself, as in "watashi nanka", and this is often used to stress a perceived inferior position or a difficult position that one finds oneself in, for example, "watashi nanka marude kodomo atsukai da" (I'm treated just like a child).

Now, the fundamental meaning of "nanka", as I said, is actually a contraction of "nanika", which is "something".

And it can be used simply as a contraction of "nanika" in, for example, "nanka shinpai-wa aru?", which just means "nanika shinpai-wa aru" or (Is there some worry? Is anything worrying you?).

Now, from there it goes on to preface things in order, as with "something" or "somewhat" in English, to make them a bit vaguer.

So we might say "nanka chigau" (something's different -- I'm not sure what it is, but something's different).

"Nanka chigau."

Now, from that it goes on to meaning "somehow".

So we might say "nanka suki-ja nai" (somehow, I don't like it / For some reason, I don't like it). "Nanka suki-ja nai."

Now, from there it gets worse.

It goes on to become even vaguer.

So in very casual and (I would say) rather sloppy speech, you can hear "nanka" at the beginning of a sentence and then several times during the sentence: "nanka this, nanka that".

And when it's being used like that, it's really being used like "kinda" or "like" in English.

And, just as in English, this is a sloppy way of talking.

It's not good Japanese, but you may hear people talking like this in some anime, etcetera.

The function really, as with "like" or "kinda" in English, is simply vaguing things up a bit and releasing oneself from the need to express oneself precisely.

Just kinda saying, like, whatever it is that kinda comes into your mind, like -- "nanka... nanka... nanka".

So, we should look out for this very loose use of "nanka" and realize that it doesn't really mean very much at all.

"Nante" is essentially a contraction of "nantte" and I've done another video about this -tte, which is a contraction of -to or "-to iu".

And it's the same with "nante".

So, in its simplest and most basic use, it's used, for example, in saying "nante itta?", which means "what did you say?"

English speakers may be tempted to ask "nani-wo itta?" (what did you say?).

But that's not natural Japanese.

We can say "nan-to itta", but it's actually more natural in casual speech to say "nante itta?" (what was it that you said?) which isn't very easy to translate into English because it's using that quotation particle even though it's rather morphed itself into "nante" in colloquial speech.

Now, you'll also see it a lot with a meaning of "what" in English as used in expressions like "What a nice day!", "What a stupid person!", "What a beautiful flower!" etcetera.

And this is an abbreviation of "nan-to iu", but it's more often than not, even in not particularly casual speech, used as "nante".

"Nante utsukushii keshiki da!" (What beautiful scenery!)

And, just as in English, this "nante" can be used to introduce any fairly strong reaction to anything.

It can be negative; it can be positive.

We're saying "what a (this)" or "what a (that)".

Now, it's also used, as we said before, in this belittling manner attached to a noun.

So, for example, we can say "shiken nante kirai da" (I hate exams); "okane nante iranai" (I don't want money).

Like "nanka", it both stresses the noun that it follows and indicates a negative or a dismissive attitude towards it.

And it can also be used at the end of a complete statement to express surprise.

So in this sense it's rather like the first one we looked at, the "what a (this)" or "what a (that)", which comes at the beginning.

It can also be used at the end to express surprise or in some cases disbelief or doubt.

So we might say, "fuyu-ni tsubame-wo miru nante" (see a swallow in winter + "nante").

What's that "nante" doing?

Well, it's turning the whole thing into an expression, rather like the "what a (this)" or "what a (that)" expressions.

So what we're saying is something like "Gosh, imagine seeing a swallow in winter!"

And this use of "nante" on the end, after the engine of a statement, can be used as part of a longer sentence.

So, for example, we could say "hara-wo tateru nante kimi rashikunai".

Now, "hara-wo tateru" means literally "stand your stomach", but this is an expression meaning "get angry".

So the whole thing is saying "getting angry, that's not like you".

And I've talked about this "rashi" and "rashi kunai" in another video. So, if you're not familiar with those, I'll put a link above my head and in the information section below.

Now, we can take out the "nante" here and then of course we'd have to put in a particle and say, "hara-wo tateru-no-wa kimi rashikunai".

But the "nante" is expressing our surprise about this because it's not like the person concerned.

And note that this can't be the belittling "nante", which attaches to nouns.

This is attaching to a complete statement, so we're expressing our surprise about someone being angry and then adding the comment that it's not like her.

And finally, we can use it in a way that comes right back more or less to the original meaning of "-to iu", but adding a bit of vagueness to it.

So if we say "Yamada nante hito-wa shiranai", we're saying "I don't know anyone called Yamada".

Now, the "nante" here could be replaced simply with "-to iu": "Yamada-to iu hito-wa shiranai".

So what's the difference between using the regular "-to iu" and using "nante"?

Well, "Yamada-to iu hito-wa shiranai" is like saying in English simply "I don't know a person called Yamada".

But "Yamada nante hito-wa shiranai" is more like saying "I don't know any character called Yamada".

It's throwing a lot more doubt and questioning into the whole thing.

So, we've covered the main usages of these three words or expressions here.

It's not completely exhaustive, but I think it gives you the basic keys to how they work, what they mean, how they're used.