Structure
Verb + とか
[い]Adjective + とか
[な]Adjective + とか
Noun + とか
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Standard
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一般
About とか
Being a combination of the particles と and か, とか 'quotes' the previous statement as being something that has been heard, but is unconfirmed or uncertain. In English, this translates as 'I heard something like (A)', or '(A) or something was said'.
とか may appear after verbs, い-Adjectives, な-Adjectives, or nouns.
とか may appear after verbs, い-Adjectives, な-Adjectives, or nouns.
- 遠藤さんと近藤さんが結婚するとか。意外じゃない?I heard that Endo-san and Kondo-san are getting married or something. Isn't that surprising?
- あの大手家電メーカーが開発した最新のスマホはたくさんのブロートウェアがインストールされているせいで動作がものすごく重いとか。I heard that the latest smartphone developed by that major appliance manufacturer performs extremely slow because of all the bloatware that comes installed, or something like that.
- 高橋くんの彼女が美人だとか。あんなやつに美人な彼女ができたとは信じられないけどな。I heard that Takahashi's girlfriend is beautiful or something. I can't believe that a guy like that could have a beautiful girlfriend, though.
- あの人は実はお金持ちだとか。I heard that person is actually rich or something.
Caution - This combination of と and か may appear the same as the とか used to indicate lists, but the former is simply a combination of the case-marking particle と, and the adverbial particle か, while the latter is a single listing particle. Despite this, both structures are originally combinations of と and か, and may be thought to have some overlap in meaning.
Synonyms
Examples
めがねちゃん:「彼が昨日、何て言ったか覚えてる?」
ヤンキー君:「明日、11時ごろに学校の前で会おうとか言っていたようだけど、定かではない。」Megane-chan: 'Do you remember what he said yesterday?'
Yankee-kun: 'He said, 'lets meet in front of school around 11' or something like that, but I am not really sure.'社長は年末年始に温泉旅行に行ってらっしゃるとか。
I heard that the company president is going on a hot springs trip over New Years or something like that.
AKB48という音楽グループは解散するとか。
I heard that the music group called AKB48 is going to break up or something like that.
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とか vs. って vs. という vs. と言われている
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とか
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とか – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (2 in total)
daniellacda
Hello!
According to Shin Kanzen master n3 dokkai, ~とか is used only with unconfirmed hearsay.
The first example sentence in Bunpro is:めがねちゃん:「彼かれが昨日きのう、何なんて言いったか覚おぼえてる?」
ヤンキー君:「明日あした、11時じごろに学校がっこうの前まえで会あおうとか言いっていたようだけど、定さだかではない。」And it doesn’t fit with the Kanzen master explanation, it’s not really hearsay, but rather what the guy remembers from what he was told.
Can somebody elaborate a bit on this?Thank you! <3Fuga
Hey @daniellacda !
We apologize for the late response.
とか is not only used for unconfirmed hearsay. It can also be used like そうだ or と聞いた. It can also be used when you don’t want to say something with certainty, so that you are not held accountable for what you said. Because it is used like that a lot of the times, it could give the listener the impression that the speaker is not the most credible and that they should take what you are saying with a grain of salt.We hope that answers your question!
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