Listing things with "a"

When listing nouns belonging to a certain category, 啊 (a) can be added to the end of each noun to give an informal feeling a bit like saying "you know, that kind of thing" after a list of things.

Structure

A 啊， B 啊， C 啊...

Examples

• 我们 什么 零食 都 有，花生 啊，瓜子 啊，薯片 啊，你 随便 吃 吧。
• 椅子 啊，桌子 啊，电脑 啊 什么的 都 买 好 了，现在 办公室 只 差 招 员工 了！
• 《发展 汉语》 啊， 《实用 汉语 课本》 啊，我 都 学 过，没 用！

As in the first example, the list can be followed by 什么的, but is not generally followed by 等 as this feels too formal.

See also

• Ending a Non-Exhaustive List with "shenme de"
• Sentence-final interjection "a"

Sources and Further Reading

• 现代汉语八百词 (p.47) →buy

HSK5