Ending a non-exhaustive list with "shenme de"
Revision as of 07:17, 8 November 2011 by Jonathan.pope (talk | contribs)
什么的(shénme de) is an informal way to express etc.(formally expressed using 等), and used to end a list of things when it is obvious to the listener what class of things the speaker is talking about. It can also be used after a single item if it is obvious enough what might follow. It can sound a little offhand, a bit like "you know, that kind of thing".
Here are some examples:
- 欧洲 有 哪 些 国家? 法国，英国，德国 什么 的. 反正 都 是 些 小 国家！
- 像 数学 啊，化学 啊，英语 啊 什么的，我 都 觉得 超级 无聊，不 想 学！
- 游泳 什么的 对 身体 有 好处。
Its can be a little impolite to use 什么的 after a list of peoples names, in which case 等 can be used in place of 什么的. When referring to a list of friends in informal contexts there is no problem using 什么的.
Sources and further reading
Books
- Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级) pp.304-307
- Integrated Chinese, ed3 part 1 pp.121
