や
ya
や shows you two things and leaves the rest in the bag
The picture A hand pulling a couple of things out of a bag and leaving the rest inside. What came out is only a sample. や pulls out a couple as samples; と ties them up and says that is all of them.
Where the picture shows up in や
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two pulled out as samples
パンや牛乳を買いました。
pan ya gyūnyū o kaimashita
I bought bread, milk and so on.
Bread and milk lifted out of the shopping bag while the rest stays inside
With と you bought exactly those two; with や you bought other things as well.
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a few of the people coming
会議には課長や部長が来ます。
kaigi ni wa kachō ya buchō ga kimasu
The section chief, the department head and others are coming to the meeting.
A hand tapping a few chairs in the meeting room and not counting the others
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saying out loud that there is more
鉛筆やペンなどを持ってきてください。
enpitsu ya pen nado o motte kite kudasai
Please bring a pencil, a pen and so on.
Opening the pencil case, holding up a pencil and a pen and waving them: things like these
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a few of the things that filled the day
週末は洗濯や掃除で終わります。
shūmatsu wa sentaku ya sōji de owarimasu
My weekend goes on laundry, cleaning and the like.
A washing machine and a broom crowding into the weekend squares of the calendar
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a few of the things nearby
駅の近くに銀行や郵便局があります。
eki no chikaku ni ginkō ya yūbinkyoku ga arimasu
There's a bank, a post office and so on near the station.
Circling only the bank and the post office on the map and leaving the rest blank
All of it in one picture
や is a hand that will not show you the whole bag. Take out bread and milk and you have not said that is all you bought; tap a few chairs and those are not all the people coming. Hold up a pencil and a pen and it becomes 'things like these'; crowd a washing machine and a broom into the weekend squares and the weekend went on that sort of thing. Two circles on the map do not delete the rest of the street — や always comes with an 'and so on' attached.