Things like, apparently: 〜とか

とか is first used to list a few examples among others: お茶とかお菓子とか, “tea, sweets, that kind of thing”. It's also used to soften a suggestion (散歩とかどう？, “how about a walk or something?”) and to pass on information vaguely (結婚するとか, “he's getting married, or so I hear”). It's a spoken word.

• お茶とかお菓子とか、いろいろ買った。おちゃとかおかしとか、いろいろかった。I bought all sorts of things: tea, sweets…
• 疲れているなら、散歩とかどう？つかれているなら、さんぽとかどう？If you're tired, how about a walk or something?
• 田中さん、来月結婚するとか。たなかさん、らいげつけっこんするとか。Tanaka's getting married next month, or so I hear.

とか means “things like…”. You give one or two examples and imply there are others. The word makes the sentence vague, and that's exactly the point: not saying everything, not imposing, not stating things too firmly — like English “and stuff”, “or something”.

• 京都では、お寺とか神社とかをたくさん見た。きょうとでは、おてらとかじんじゃとかをたくさんみた。In Kyoto, I saw lots of temples, shrines and so on.

Unlike や, which only links nouns, とか also attaches to verbs and whole sentences. It can be repeated after each item, including the last one.

• 休みの日は、本を読むとか、映画を見るとかしている。やすみのひは、ほんをよむとか、えいがをみるとかしている。On my days off, I read, watch films, that kind of thing.

In a suggestion, とか leaves the other person free to say no: “a walk, or something else”. In hearsay, 〜とか (or 〜とか言っていた) says you've heard something without being sure, vaguer than って or そうだ.

• 週末、紅葉を見に行くとかどう？しゅうまつ、もみじをみにいくとかどう？How about going to see the autumn leaves this weekend, for instance?
• 部長、来週から入院するとか言ってたよ。ぶちょう、らいしゅうからにゅういんするとかいってたよ。The manager was saying he's going into hospital next week, something like that.

や is neutral and used in writing as well as speech, but only between nouns. など closes a list politely (お茶やお菓子など). とか is more casual. For precise hearsay, say って or そうだ; とか stays vague.

Careful: some young people put とか everywhere to soften things (“私とか、そういうの苦手で”). It's frowned upon in writing and at work.

• お茶やお菓子などを買いました。おちゃやおかしなどをかいました。I bought tea, sweets, etc.