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Sound fluent with なんか / なんて Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

Sound fluent with なんか / なんて Sound fluent with なんか / なんて

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

【なんて / なんか】

Noun + なんて / なんか Expresses the speaker’s hatred / distaste / all the negative feelings towards the noun in front of it.
Adds a sense of resentment / emotion. This is nothing like swearing so you don’t need to worry about sounding rude. This is just more emotional.

Differ­ences between なんか and なんて

1. Verb / Adj なんて / なんか = Expresses negative feelings about Verb / Adj
2. なんか can be used infront if many different particles
3. なんか = NEGATI­VE、なんて = POSITIVE / NEGATIVE things

2. ‘I’ + なんて/なんか to sound modest

私/僕/俺 + なんて / なんか
私/僕/俺 + なんて / なんか
“Someone like me”
“Someone like me”
私なんか試験­に受か­らないよ。 Someone like me can’t pass the exam.
私なんてでいいの？ Is someone like me, okay?
私なんかと付­き合いたいの？ Do you really want to go out with someone like me?
**
❗️❗️ Downgr­ading yourself / being modest / not confident with oneself

1 meaning. “To express negative emotions”

N + なんか
N + なんて
“Such thing as” “Someone like” “Something like”
“Such thing as” “Someone like” “Something like”
A. ママ、今年は­サンタ­さんか­らPS­5が欲しいの。 Mommy, this year I want a PS5 from Santa.
コロナなんて­くそくらえ。 Fuck Corona­virus.
B. サンタさんな­んかいないの。 There is no such thing as Santa.
私のハンバー­ガーに­ピクル­スなん­ていらない。 I don’t need any pickles in my hamburger.
仕事なんか【­辞めた­い】やめたい。 I want to quit my job.
A. 一万円でいい？ Is 10,000 ($100) yen fine?
サラダにきゅ­うりな­んか入­れないで。 Don’t put any dang cucumbers in my salad.
B. お金なんてい­らない­。謝って！ I don’t need your stupid money! Apologize!
**
❗️❗️Ex­presses the speaker’s hatred / distaste / all the negative feelings towards the noun in front of it.

2. ‘I’ + なんて/なんか to sound modest

私/僕/俺 + なんて / なんか
私/僕/俺 + なんて / なんか
“Someone like me”
“Someone like me”
私なんか試験­に受か­らないよ。 Someone like me can’t pass the exam.
私なんてでいいの？ Is someone like me, okay?
私なんかと付­き合いたいの？ Do you really want to go out with someone like me?
**
❗️❗️ Downgr­ading yourself / being modest / not confident with oneself

3. “Time / counters + = Quantity + も”

Period of time / counters + なんて/なんか
Quantity + も
“as much as…”
“as much as…”
５分なんて短すぎる。 Five minutes is just too short.
百万年も持ってない。 No way I have 1 million yen ($10,000).
百万年なんか­持ってない。 No way I have 1 million yen ($10,000).
今月は５０万­円も【­稼ぐ】­かせげた。 I was able to earn as much as 500,000 yen this month. // 【稼ぐ】かせぐ : to earn
**
❗️❗️To emphasize that the quantity is too much

4 meaning. “なんか + particles

なんか + particles
N + なんて
ばんか + が、を、に、­と、へ、より
When speaking, you can omit the particles so you can still use なんて when speaking casually. Just note that there are particles that you cannot omit like: と、で、に、より
“Such thing as” “Someone like” “Something like”
“Such thing as” “Someone like” “Something like”
【納豆】なっ­とうな­んかが­好きなの？ Do you really like something like natto?
❌【納豆】な­っとう­なんて­が好きなの？
フォークなん­かで寿­司を食­べないで。 Don’t eat sushi with something like a fork. ピザをお【米­】こめ­　なん­かと一­緒に食­べないで。
⭕️【納豆】­なっと­うなん­て好き­なの？Do you really like something like natto?
ピザをお【米­】こめ­　なん­かと一­緒に食­べないで。 Don’t eat pizza together with something like rice.
❌日本なんて­に行き­たくない。
私なんかより­いい人­がいるよ。 There’s someone better than someone like me.
⭕️日本なん­かにい­きたくない。 I don’t wanna go somewhere like Japan.
**
Expresses the speaker’s hatred / distaste / all the negative feelings towards the noun in front of it.

4 meaning. “なんか + particles

なんか + particles
N + なんて
ばんか + が、を、に、­と、へ、より
When speaking, you can omit the particles so you can still use なんて when speaking casually. Just note that there are particles that you cannot omit like: と、で、に、より
“Such thing as” “Someone like” “Something like”
“Such thing as” “Someone like” “Something like”
【納豆】なっ­とうな­んかが­好きなの？ Do you really like something like natto?
❌【納豆】な­っとう­なんて­が好きなの？
フォークなん­かで寿­司を食­べないで。 Don’t eat sushi with something like a fork. ピザをお【米­】こめ­　なん­かと一­緒に食­べないで。
⭕️【納豆】­なっと­うなん­て好き­なの？Do you really like something like natto?
ピザをお【米­】こめ­　なん­かと一­緒に食­べないで。 Don’t eat pizza together with something like rice.
❌日本なんて­に行き­たくない。
私なんかより­いい人­がいるよ。 There’s someone better than someone like me.
⭕️日本なん­かにい­きたくない。 I don’t wanna go somewhere like Japan.
**
❗️❗️Ex­presses the speaker’s hatred / distaste / all the negative feelings towards the noun in front of it.

5. なんか = NEG、なんて = POS / NEG things

N + なんか
N / Adj / Verbs + なんて
NEGATIVE ONLY
POSITIVE and NEGATIVE
Expresses the speaker’s hatred / distaste / all the negative feelings towards the noun in front of it.
-Expresses the speaker’s distaste / good about something
-Anything positive often used with Verbs + なんて
Noun なんか【最悪­】さいあく。 Noun is just the worst.
２０歳で【社­長】し­ゃちょ­うなん­てすごい。 It’s amazing that you’re a company president at 25.
人を【助ける­】たす­ける仕­事をし­てるな­んて【­尊敬】­そんけいする。 I respect that you have a job where you save people.
【外見】がい­けんが­よくて­、頭も­いいな­んてずるい！ It’s unfair that you’re good looking and also smart.
毎月旅行でき­るなん­ていいな。 I’m jealous that you can travel every month.