Ending a non-exhaustive list with "shenme de"

Revision as of 07:53, 30 January 2012 by JiaBeixi (talk | contribs) (→‎Books)

什么的(shénme de) is an informal way to express etc., and used to end a list of items 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.

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.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books