How to connect different parts of speech in Japanese
an update to these posts (rules I learned in class)
post 1 - How to connect nouns (and other parts of speech) in Japanese
post 2 - とか vs. たり
や works similarly to たり~たりする which means you don’t limit the list to the items on your list - they are just examples “things like [examples]” Implicitly you’re stating there are other things as well; you just don’t want to list them. Used with nouns only.
と limits your list to the items you mention. I bought an apple and a banana - バナナとリンゴを買った - you bought just these two items and nothing else. Used with nouns only.
とか is used with nouns and verbs. とか is considered 話し言葉 (はなしことば) which means spoken language. When you use it with nouns, you loosely list items, but implicitly you say there are more items. It works just like や (や is 書き言葉 (かきことば) written language, but it’s used in speech too.)
とか with verbs is used when you want to give advice - what about cooking; what about doing things like cooking or singing? You need some context to use it in a sentence. If you want to list your hobbies, then たり~たりする is a better option.
If you say: During the holidays, I go to such places as markets, churches, parks … (stupid examples, I know) you don’t limit the list of places to just these three examples; you implicitly say there are other places as well. You’d use や or とか here.
If you say: During the holidays, I go to markets, churches, and parks. - you limit the list to these three places only. You’d use と here.
し can be used with all parts of speech. You also need some context to be able to use it. It works similarly to から. It is also considered 話し言葉. It kind of answers the question ‘why?’ We’re doing this because… or it is like that because … (that’s not the literal translation)
We have to do it. (why? because) he’s our client - それをしなければならない。お客様さまだし。
You could also make a nice sentence with ですから
彼は私たちのクライアントだから、やらなければならない。
An update to these posts (rules I learned in class):
post 1 - How to connect nouns (and other parts of speech) in Japanese
post 2 - とか vs. たり
や works similarly to たり~たりする which means you don’t limit the list to the items on your list - they are just examples “things like [examples]” Implicitly you’re stating there are other things as well; you just don’t want to list them. Used with nouns only.
と limits your list to the items you mention. I bought an apple and a banana - バナナとリンゴを買った - you bought just these two items and nothing else. Used with nouns only.
とか is used with nouns and verbs. とか is considered 話し言葉 (はなしことば) which means spoken language. When you use it with nouns, you loosely list items, but implicitly you say there are more items. It works just like や (や is 書き言葉 (かきことば) written language, but it’s used in speech too.)
とか with verbs is used when you want to give advice - what about cooking; what about doing things like cooking or singing? You need some context to use it in a sentence. If you want to list your hobbies, then たり~たりする is a better option.
If you say: During the holidays, I go to such places as markets, churches, parks … (stupid examples, I know) you don’t limit the list of places to just these three examples; you implicitly say there are other places as well. You’d use や or とか here.
If you say: During the holidays, I go to markets, churches, and parks. - you limit the list to these three places only. You’d use と here.
し can be used with all parts of speech. You also need some context to be able to use it. It works similarly to から. It is also considered 話し言葉. It kind of answers the question ‘why?’ We’re doing this because… or it is like that because … (that’s not the literal translation)
We have to do it. (why? because) he’s our client - それをしなければならない。お客様さまだし。
You could also make a nice sentence with ですから
彼は私たちのクライアントだから、やらなければならない。