Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 3: 2/18

等(など)Such as, Things like, Etc., And so on

Structure

Noun + など
Noun + など + の + Noun

Details

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    Standard

About など

など is an adverbial particle that is used to express that something is being presented as an example, but that other things in the same category also exist. In this way, it is regularly translated as 'such as', 'things like', or 'and so on'.

など may be used after nouns, to describe that (A) is being presented as an example from within a group. Alternatively, など can be followed by の (B), to show that (A) is only one type of thing from the broader category, (B).

など is regularly seen in its kanji form, 等(など). This kanji itself has a similar meaning to 'etc' in English.

Fun Fact

The kanji for 等(など) is also used in the pluralizing suffix, ら. Due to this, we can see that this kanji is regularly utilized to highlight something that exists as part of a larger group.

  • 鞄(かばん)や靴(くつ)等(など)を川(かわ)に捨(す)ててはならない。
    You mustn't discard things such as bags and shoes into the river.
  • あいつ等(ら)本当(ほんとう)にうるさいね。
    Those people are very noisy, don't you think.

In the first sentence, など presents (A) as being part of a larger group of similar things. This is exactly the same thing that happens in the second sentence with ら.

Fun Fact

など is also sometimes written as なんか, and has an interchangeable meaning in many situations. However, なんか will never use the kanji form of 等(など).

Examples

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    イタリアやアメリカなどに行(い)きたい。

    I want to go to places such as America and Italy. (etc. / and so on)

    フルーツはぶどうなどが好(す)きです。

    As for fruits, I like grapes and such. (etc. / and so on)

    趣味(しゅみ)などを教(おし)えてください。

    Please tell me things like your hobbies. (etc. / and so on)

    明日(あした)から、準備(じゅんび)などをするつもりです。

    From tomorrow, I plan on doing things like preparing. (etc. / and so on)

    数学(すうがく)などを勉強(べんきょう)します。

    I study things like math. (etc. / and so on)

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        • Marugoto Elementary 1 (A2) Rikai

          Page 57

        • Tobira

          Page 43

        • [DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar

          Page 267

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      など – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (9 in total)

      • Schuylerca

        Schuylerca

        I don’t have a copy of that book/ref but thank you for posting… the quoting example is exactly how it was done in the ref I mentioned…

        specifically though the correction that I received was from とか to など。wasn’t quoting anything
        No quoting particles… Have talked to a few Japanese friends and haven’t gotten a straight answer, not a big deal just weird…

        in any case…I can kind of see how the meaning might be more natural (even if the quoting particle is omitted)…

        will be interesting to see if anyone has any other references/input.

        Thanks!

      • jelly1

        jelly1

        I think the fun fact section could be made a little clearer. It says that the kanji 等 can be used as the pluralising suffix ら, then shows an あいつら example sentence written in hiragana (and not あいつ等).

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        This should have been displayed as あいつ等, so we have just fixed it! Thank you for letting us know about this!

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