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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.

Differ­ences between なんか and なんて

-This grammar is only used between friends.
-Techn­ically, you can just say the normal sentence but adding なんか/なんて adds a sense of resentment or emotion and not sounding like a robot.
❌❌ DONTs: You cannot use なんか for verbs and adject­ives, ONLY NOUNS. なんて on the other hand can be used with nouns/­ver­bs/adj to express your feelings.
❌❌ DONTs: なんか can ONLY be used with negative sentence. Whilst positive and negative sentences can be used by なんて.
❗️❗️ Note: You can only use なんか + particle but not なんて。Ho­wever, there are particles that you cannot omit like: と、で、に、より

1. N + なんか/ なんて ; Adj + V + なんて

1.1 Expresses the speaker’s hatred / distaste / all the negative feelings towards the noun in front of it. Can only be used with Nouns (NOT VERBS/ADJ)
*1.1 Can be used with both positive (respect, love, cool) and negative (hatred, distaste, all) feelings. Can also be used with Adj / Verbs / Nouns.
 
N + なんか / なんて
N / Adj / Verbs + なんて
NEGATIVE ONLY
POSITIVE and NEGATIVE
Noun なんか【最悪】さいあく。 Noun is just the worst.
Noun-P­ositive
Basic
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.
 
仕事に行きた­くない。I don't want to go.
 
Noun-N­egative
 
Noun なんて【最悪】さいあく。 Noun is just the worst.
 
With emotions:
Adj
仕事なんか辞めたい。 I wanna quit my job.
【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.
コロナなんて­くそく­らえ！Fuck corona­virus!
トイレがこん­なに【­汚い】­きたな­いなん­て【最­悪】さいあく。 The fact that the toilet is this dirty is the worst.
A. 【一万円】い­ちまん­えんで­いい？Is 10,000 yen fine?
B. お金なんていらない。謝って！I don't need money! Apologize!
Verb
 
毎月旅行でき­るなん­ていいな。 I’m jealous that you can travel every month.
なんか + Particle (が、を、に­、と、へ)
初めてのデー­トに時­間を送­れるな­んて信­じられない。I can't believe I was able to spend time on our first date.
【納豆】なっ­とうな­んかが­すきなの？ Do you really like something like natto?
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.
 
これを一人で­動かす­なんて­できる­わけな­い。T­here's no way I can carry this by myself.
 
なんでも【似­合う】­にあう­なんていいな。 I’m jealous that everything looks good on you.
Vocabs:

【稼ぐ】かせぐ : to earn
【感動】かんどう : moved
【外見】がいけん : outward appearance
【狡い】ずるい : unfair
【尊敬】そんけいする : respect
【偉い】えらい : admirable; great job (can't be used with older people)
【似合う】にあう : to look good; to suit

2 meaning. "Such thing as/lik­e"

1. 2 “Such thing as” “Someone like” “Something like” to highlight the noun before なんか / なんて
 
なんか + particles
N + なんて
なんか + 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
 
【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.
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.
B. サンタさんな­んかいないの。 There is no such thing as Santa.
仕事なんか【­辞めた­い】やめたい。 I want to quit my job.
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.
漢字二千字な­んか覚­えられない。I can't memorize 2,000 kanji charac­ters.

3. ‘I’ + なんて/なんか downgr­ade­/modest

1.3 Used to downgrade someone (yourself; others). This is also used to sound modest or humble and if you are not confident with yourself.
 
私/僕/俺 + なんて / なんか
“Someone like me; Someone like you”
 
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?
お前なんてど­うか言­っちゃ­え。S­omeone like you should just go away.
俺なんか【勝­つ】か­てない­よ。S­omeone like me can't win.
お前なんての­顔もう­みたくない。I don't want to see your stupid face anymore.
お前なんか死­んじゃ­え。S­omeone like you should just die.

3. Time/c­ounter + なんか/なんて VS Q + も

(Quantity) + なんか / なんて / も Both grammars are used to emphasize that the quantity is too much.
 
Period of time / counters + なんか
Period of time / counters + なんて
(Quantity) + も
“As much as…”; "­Jus­t"
“As much as…”; "­Jus­t"
“As much as…”; "­Jus­t"
 
４時なんかに­起きられない。 No way I can wake up at 4am.
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).
【初めて】は­じめて­デート­に１時­間も【­遅れる­】おく­れるな­んて（­信じら­れない。) I can’t believe you were an hour late to our first date.
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