particle N4 common casualpolite

〜とか〜とか — things like ~ and ~

〜とか〜とか・とかとか

Builds on とか

Meaning

things like ~ and ~ — lists two or more representative examples explicitly, still leaving the list open

Repeating とか makes the example-listing of single とか explicit: you name several representatives and imply others. It's the casual counterpart of 〜や〜など. Because each item carries its own とか, it can list nouns, actions, or quoted lines side by side. Conversational; in writing や〜など is preferred.

Key sentence

朝あさはパンとか卵たまごとか食たべる。

In the morning I eat things like bread and eggs.

Formation

Attaches to	Form	Example
Each listed noun / verb / quoted phrase	X とか Y とか (Z とか…)	走はしるとか泳およぐとか / 「やだ」とか「無理むり」とか

Examples

休やすみは掃除そうじとか洗濯せんたくとかで終おわる。

My day off ends up spent on cleaning and laundry and such.

犬いぬとか猫ねことか、動物どうぶつが好すき。

I like animals — dogs, cats, that kind of thing.

「行いきたくない」とか「眠ねむい」とか文句もんくばかりだ。

It's all complaints like 'I don't wanna go' and 'I'm sleepy'.

Easily confused with

とか Single とか can cite just one example or hedge an item; 〜とか〜とか explicitly lays out several. Same particle, repeated for an enumerated list. や〜や〜など is the more neutral noun-listing equivalent; 〜とか〜とか is casual and can also string together actions and quoted phrases.

Notes

A trailing とか can be left dangling (パンとか卵とか…) to keep the list open without naming more.

See 〜とか〜とか in real sentences

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

Study it in Jengo

Sources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar.

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