I heard that… something like
he/she/it said … or something
Structure
[A particle used to present a quote in an indefinite manner, where と is a quotation particle and か is a question particle which adds uncertainty]
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
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!
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”. …