particle N3 common casual

なんか — things like / (dismissively) ~ of all things

なんか

Meaning

① things like / such as: things like ~ / ~ or something — casually cites an example, the colloquial form of など

② belittling / dismissive: (the likes of) ~ / ~ of all things — downplays or rejects the marked item; humble on oneself, scornful on others

なんか is the casual, spoken contraction of など. It cites a loose example ('~ or something') and, attached to a thing you dismiss or downplay, carries a belittling tone — humble on yourself (私わたしなんか), scornful or impatient on others (勉強べんきょうなんか). As a filler, なんか also peppers casual speech ('like, kinda'). Conversational only — など is the neutral/written equivalent.

Key sentence

① things like / such as

週末しゅうまつは映画えいがなんかどう？

How about a movie or something this weekend?

② belittling / dismissive

お金かねなんかいらない。

I don't need money or anything like it.

Formation

Attaches to	Form	Example
Nouns (replacing/after a particle); also as a discourse filler	N + なんか	ドラマなんか / 君きみなんか

Examples

① things like / such as

お茶ちゃなんか飲のみませんか。

Would you like some tea or something?

甘あまいものなんかが食たべたい。

I feel like eating something sweet.

② belittling / dismissive

私わたしなんかにできるでしょうか。

Could someone like me really do it?

宿題しゅくだいなんかしたくない。

I don't want to do homework (of all things).

Easily confused with

など Same two jobs (example-citing + belittling); なんか is casual-spoken, など is neutral-to-formal and the written choice. なんて Both belittle/cite casually, but なんて can also quote a phrase or clause (帰かえるなんて, 'saying you'll leave'); なんか attaches to plain nouns.

Notes

Don't confuse with 何なにか ('something', the indefinite) — written the same in kana but stressed and used differently; なんか here is the など-derived particle.

See なんか in real sentences

Jengo shows なんか the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.

Study it in Jengo

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