なんか・なんて: Emphasis, “such as”, and belittlement

Introduction

Okay, who ordered the garlic naan, cheese naan, and the... か and て naan?

Actually, contrary to popular belief, なんか and なんて don't have anything to do with naan. Learn all about them in today's naan-less lesson!

なんて・なんか: A lil' somethin' somethin'

構成こうせい

• 

  Verb/い-adjective/nounなんて

• 

  Nounなんか

• 

  (Phrase)、なんか、(rest of sentence)。

  Example:
  → 僕ぼくらはチーズバーガーでいい。ピザなんかいらない。
  "We're good with cheeseburgers. We don't need stuff like pizza.”

This lesson will discuss both なんか and なんて, which are often lumped together as casual "something" markers. If you think this is a little vague, you're not alone. Grammar Georg, who first thought to teach なんか and なんて together, was having an existential crisis at the time and has since publicly voiced his regret for ever putting them together in the first place.