なんか details
write + (and…) + N of all things — knocks its noun down a peg, the speaker's own included
kaite nanka
N of all things — knocks its noun down a peg, the speaker's own included
あんな店なんか、もう二度と行かない。
anna mise nanka, mou nido to ikanai.
A place like that? I'm never going back. casual
「泣いてるの？」「泣いてなんかいないよ。」
"naiteru no?" "naite nanka inai yo."
"Are you crying?" "I'm not crying." casual
- て-form
- noun
- alternant
Examples
N of all things — the noun is put down as beneath consideration, which on a first-person noun reads as modesty instead
あんな店なんか、もう二度と行かない。
anna mise nanka, mou nido to ikanai.
A place like that? I'm never going back. casual
私なんかにできるかな。
watashi nanka ni dekiru kana.
I wonder if someone like me can really do it. casual
私なんかでよろしければ、喜んでお手伝いします。
watashi nanka de yoroshikereba, yorokonde o tetsudai shimasu.
If someone like me will do, I'd be glad to help. neutral
細かい数字なんか、後で直せばいいよ。
komakai suuji nanka, ato de naoseba ii yo.
Never mind the exact figures — you can fix them later. casual
after a て-form it throws the act itself out — "I'm not doing any such thing"
「泣いてるの？」「泣いてなんかいないよ。」
"naiteru no?" "naite nanka inai yo."
"Are you crying?" "I'm not crying." casual
私は、あの人を疑ってなんかいません。
watashi wa, ano hito o utagatte nanka imasen.
I do not suspect him in the slightest. neutral
Formation
{N}なんかattaches to noun{V-te}なんかattaches to て-form
Variant notes
- なんて — なんて quotes the noun rather than merely downgrading it — 学生なんて is closer to "students, so called" and carries more disbelief; なんか does not quote, and is the softer, commoner grumble.
Notes
worn down to "somehow" (なんか疲れた, なんか変だ). Same three
syllables, different word.
Related patterns
Similar
など is the writable, neutral member and can be genuinely polite about a single item (紅茶などいかがですか); なんか belongs to speech only and always costs the noun standing, so a notice or a report takes など where a grumble takes なんか.
Lookalikes
だ is what makes the clause reading explicit — 学生なんて downgrades the noun, 学生だなんて quotes a whole claim and disbelieves it; without だ the reading falls back on whether an overt subject is standing in front (彼が犯人なんて).
Both put a noun in front of a negative and both sound like a complaint, but しか reports a plain shortfall in amount (千円しかない "only a thousand yen left") where なんか passes judgment on the noun itself (千円なんか、すぐなくなる "a thousand yen won't get you anywhere").