とかI heard that… something like, They said ... or something

Structure

Verb + とか
［い］Adjective + とか
［な］Adjective + とか
Noun + とか

Details

About とか

Being a combination of the particles と and か, とか 'quotes' the previous statement as being something that has been heard, but is unconfirmed or uncertain. In English, this translates as 'I heard something like (A)', or '(A) or something was said'.

とか may appear after verbs, い-Adjectives, な-Adjectives, or nouns.

This meaning of 'or something' when using とか is fairly casual and will often be heard in everyday conversation.

Caution

This combination of と and か may appear the same as the とか used to indicate lists, but the former is simply a combination of the case-marking particle と, and the adverbial particle か, while the latter is a single listing particle. Despite this, both structures are originally combinations of と and か, and may be thought to have some overlap in meaning.

Examples

--:--

納豆(なっとう)は体(からだ)にいいんだとか。

I heard that Natto is good for your body or something like that.

このワンピースは体型(たいけい)をカバーするとか。

I heard that this dress conceals your physique or something like that.

ＡＫＢ(えーけーびー)４８(ふぉーてぃーえいと)という音楽(おんがく)グループは解散(かいさん)するとか。

I heard that the music group called AKB48 is going to break up or something like that.

最近(さいきん)はカラーサングラスが流行(はや)っているとか。

I heard that color sunglasses are popular recently or something like that.

お母(かあ)さんが朝(あさ)ごはんを食(た)べるのは大事(だいじ)だとか言(い)っていた。

Mom was saying that eating breakfast is important or something like that.

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  Japanese StackExchange

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- [AIAIJ] An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese
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とか – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (3 in total)

daniellacda
Hello！
According to Shin Kanzen master n3 dokkai, ～とか is used only with unconfirmed hearsay.
The first example sentence in Bunpro is:

めがねちゃん:「彼かれが昨日きのう、何なんて言いったか覚おぼえてる？」
ヤンキー君:「明日あした、１１時じごろに学校がっこうの前まえで会あおうとか言いっていたようだけど、定さだかではない。」

And it doesn’t fit with the Kanzen master explanation, it’s not really hearsay, but rather what the guy remembers from what he was told.
Can somebody elaborate a bit on this？Thank you！ <3
Fuga
Hey @daniellacda !

We apologize for the late response.
とか is not only used for unconfirmed hearsay. It can also be used like そうだ or と聞いた. It can also be used when you don’t want to say something with certainty, so that you are not held accountable for what you said. Because it is used like that a lot of the times, it could give the listener the impression that the speaker is not the most credible and that they should take what you are saying with a grain of salt.

We hope that answers your question!
casual
Am I correct in understanding the combination of んだとか as being a reference to what the speaker heard elsewhere, not an assertion by the speaker himself? Normally んだ (～んです・のです (JLPT N5) | Bunpro) would make very confident assertions.

今日は雨が降るんだとか。…
“They say it’s going to rain today or something like that”. …