Structure
A(1) + やら + B(1) + やら
(1) Verb[る]、Noun、[い]Adjective
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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.
Related
Examples
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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.
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.
髭やら頭髪やらの身だしなみのチェックが厳しくて困る。
Checking personal grooming such as beard and hair and so on, is so strict that I am bothered.
悪口やら皮肉やら、彼はとにかく口が悪いから、あまり付き合いたくない。
Whether it is insults or sarcasm, he has a dirty mouth, so I don't really want to spend time with him.
小数やら分数やらの問題を教えて欲しいと言われても、算数が苦手なもので...
Even if someone says they want me to teach them about decimals and fractions and such problems, I am no good at math...
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Additional information and examples
JapaneseTest4You
Breakdown and examples
JLPT Sensei
More やら〜やら in action
NihongoDayByDay
やら〜やら in action
NihongoDayByDay
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
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