How to say, "things like"


If you want to say "things like" you can use とか、など、and し。

What if you don't want to list out several things. You want to say, "things
like A." Then what do you do?




Amongst とか, など, and し, I feel only など satisfies the specific role you're
talking about.

There's no rule that says など must be affixed only after 2 or more examples.

> E.g. この難しいこと、私などには出来ません。 "A person like me cannot do a difficult thing as
> this".

The more related examples you string before adding など makes your concept
specific, as if you are placing them under a common theme.

The more unrelated your examples, the bigger the scope of your concept
becomes, until the point where it feels like all the examples strung together
are random and have no common theme.

* * *

とか is an inexhaustive listing helper. It is made up from the quoting function
of と and the alternative-generating function of か.

It can be used without listing. Since か automatically implies at least one
alternative.

> Illustrating the implicit alternative resulting from か：
> 図書館に行きますか。（それとも行きませんか。）

* * *

し is an emphatic "and".

> E.g. このアパートはきれいだし、安いです。 "This apartment is clean, and what's more, it's
> cheap."

Listing with し does not do any thematic grouping, so you will not end up with
a concept of "things like A, B, C..."




Amongst とか, など, and し, I feel only など satisfies the specific role you're
talking about.

There's no rule that says など must be affixed only after 2 or more examples.

> E.g. この難しいこと、私などには出来ません。 "A person like me cannot do a difficult thing as
> this".

The more related examples you string before adding など makes your concept
specific, as if you are placing them under a common theme.

The more unrelated your examples, the bigger the scope of your concept
becomes, until the point where it feels like all the examples strung together
are random and have no common theme.

* * *

とか is an inexhaustive listing helper. It is made up from the quoting function
of と and the alternative-generating function of か.

It can be used without listing. Since か automatically implies at least one
alternative.

> Illustrating the implicit alternative resulting from か：
> 図書館に行きますか。（それとも行きませんか。）

* * *

し is an emphatic "and".

> E.g. このアパートはきれいだし、安いです。 "This apartment is clean, and what's more, it's
> cheap."

Listing with し does not do any thematic grouping, so you will not end up with
a concept of "things like A, B, C..."

