Structure
A(1) + やら + B(1) + やら
(1) Verb[る]、Noun、[い]Adjective
Details
Register
Standard
About やら~やら
やら is an adverbial particle in Japanese which expresses lack of determination or limitation in regard to (A). Due to this, it is very similar to other structures like など, and will often translate as '(A) and so on', or '(A) and the like'.
やら may appear following verbs in their dictionary form, nouns, い-Adjectives, or な-Adjectives. When repeated as (A) やら (B) やら, both (A) and (B) will often be the same type of word, although this is not a limitation when the speaker is expressing various feelings in relation to something.
Compared to とか, やら puts more emphasis on the scope of things within the category of (A) and (B), thus making it sound like (A) and (B) are only a small fraction of many different things within a complex pool of various emotions, actions, etc.
Caution
When appearing as のやら~のやら, this emphasizes that the speaker does not actually know which one out of (A) and (B) is the correct option, and is just presenting both as potential possibilities. Due to this, (A) and (B) will often be antonyms or opposites of some sort in these types of sentences, but not always.
- 彼女は大学に行くのやら行かないのやらはっきりしない。It is not clear whether she is going to college or not.
-
あの歌手は上手なのやら下手なのやら、私にはさっぱりわかりません。I have no idea if that person is a good singer or not.
Synonyms
Examples
--:--
Get more example sentences!
Premium users get access to 12 example sentences on all Grammar Points.
うれしいやらはずかしいやらで、どんな顔をしていればいいのか、わからなかった。
I didn't know whether I should react with happiness or shyness.
あの映画は、戦闘シーンやら冒険シーン等があるから、君も見てみたらいいよ。
In that movie, there are many scenes of battles, adventures and so on, you should watch it.
A:「GPSを買うか買わないかわからん...でも、GPSがどうしてもほしい。」
B:「どうせGPSを買いたいと思ってるなら 、最近の携帯電話はカメラやらGPSやらついているからただのGPSよりスマホを買ったらいい。」
A: 'I don't know whether to buy a GPS or not… But I want one so much.'
B: 'If you want to buy a GPS anyway, modern mobile phones have cameras, GPS and so on. So rather than buying an ordinary GPS, it's better to get a smartphone.'
子供は母に叱られたあと、泣くやら、鼻が出ているやらで、ひどい騒ぎだった。
When a child was scolded by her mother, she ended up crying, having a runny nose and so on. It was quite the scene.
彼に褒めてもらうとうれしいやら恥ずかしいやら、とにかく気持ちがよかったわ。
When I was praised by him, I don't know whether I felt happiness or shyness. Anyway, it felt great.
Self-Study Sentences
Study your own way!
Add sentences and study them alongside Bunpro sentences.
Online
やら〜やら in action
NihongoDayByDay
More やら〜やら in action
NihongoDayByDay
Breakdown and examples
JLPT Sensei
Additional information and examples
JapaneseTest4You
接続・意味・使い方・例文
にほんごの里
Offline
完全マスター N2
Page 46-1
Track Resources!
Bunpro tracks all of the resources you’ve visited, and offers relevant bookmarks of physical books to help with offline tracking.
やら~やら – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (2 in total)
EdBunpro
Does the usage/nuance of やら~やら change at all when the sentence only involves one やら? Does it function similar to など?
Also, is the difference between やら~やら and とか~とか that とか involves items the listener knows isn’t exhaustive whereas やら doesn’t do this? A little confusing, so many seemingly similar points involved
Fuga
やら does not change nuance even if it only involves one やら. やら~やら is also used for exhaustive lists. The main difference between やら and とか is that とか does not have any emotion attached to the list. However, やら can sometimes have a very slight nuance of annoyance.
毎晩のように隣の部屋から、音楽とか怒鳴り声が聞こえてくる。
Almost every night, I can hear things such as music and yelling from the apartment next door. This sentence has not emotion attached to it and sounds like the speaker is laying out facts.毎晩のように隣の部屋から、音楽やら怒鳴り声が聞こえてくる。
Almost every night, I can hear things such as music and yelling from the apartment next door. This sentence has the nuance that the speaker is sick and tired of the music and the yelling he can hear almost every night.
Got questions about やら~やら? Join us to discuss, ask, and learn together!
Join the Discussion