だに・
A literary "even" that survives in a handful of set phrases. Before a word like 恐ろしい it is "at the mere thought"; with a negative it is "not even".
The full extent of the plan is terrifying just to hear about.
The residents had never even imagined that this quiet town would become a battlefield.
At the mere …
Verb dictionary form + だに + a strong feeling
A few verbs of thinking and hearing: 考える, 想像する, 思う, 思い出す, 聞く.
Not even
Noun + だにしない
A few nouns: 想像, 予想, 微動, 一顧. Also 夢にだに思わない.
- Tone
- Literary and old. It gives a sentence a grave, bookish ring.
- Where you'll meet it
- Novels, essays, editorials, exam papers. It is a form to recognize when you read, not one you need to say. 微動だにしない and 想像だにしなかった turn up in news and careful speech too.
- In everyday speech
- People say 考えるだけで, 想像もしなかった, 夢にも思わなかった, 少しも動かない.
At the mere …
You only have to think of it or hear of it, and the feeling comes. It is mostly fear, anger or pain.
想像するだにjust to imagine it
Falling into the sea in midwinter is terrifying just to imagine.
考えるだに・思うだにat the mere thought
The mere thought of bowing my head to that man again is infuriating.
思い出すだにat the mere memory
I shudder at the mere memory of the horrors of that winter.
Not even
想像だにしないnever even imagine
No one had ever imagined that the day would come when she would tell the truth herself.
予想だにしないnever even expect
The election ended in a result that no one had expected in the slightest.
夢にだに思わないnever even dream
I never so much as dreamed that I would come home like this.
微動だにしないnot move a muscle
Even in the pouring rain, the guard did not move a muscle.
一顧だにしないnot give it a moment's thought
The president did not give the proposal from the shop floor a moment's thought.
The list is closed
These are nearly all of them, and nobody adds to the list now. On a word of your own, the written "even" is すら.
Not said: 彼の
(I don't even know his address.)
住所すら知らない.
Close neighbours
すらN1
The written "even" that is still free to go on any noun.
The application as submitted did not even carry the signature of the person responsible.
もしないN2
The everyday frame for "not even": 思いもしなかった is what people say for 想像だにしなかった.
I never imagined I'd run into my teacher in a place like this.
Check yourself
1Which one fits?
財布には
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which says the same in everyday speech?
優勝できるとは、
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
The full extent of the damage is terrifying just to hear about.
My heart aches at the mere memory of what I saw that night.
Even his closest advisers had never dreamed that he would give up the throne.