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。Wǒmen shénme língshí dōu yǒu, huāshēng a, guāzǐ a, shǔ piàn a, nǐ suíbiàn chī ba.We have all sorts of snacks: peanuts, roasted seeds, chips, go ahead and eat whatever you want.
• 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！Yǐzi a, zhuōzi a, diànnǎo a shénme de dōu mǎihǎole, xiànzài bàngōngshì zhǐ chà zhāo yuángōngle!Chairs, tables, computers, and so on have all been bought. Now the office only needs to hire workers!
• 《发展 汉语》 啊， 《实用 汉语 课本》 啊，我 都 学 过，没 用！“Fāzhǎn Hànyǔ” a, “Shíyòng Hànyǔ Kèběn” a, wǒ dōu xuéguò, méi yòng!"Developing Chinese" and "The Practical Chinese Reader," we've studied both of them, they won't help.

As in the second 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 (pp. 47) 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 →buy

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