どんなに

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

Meanings

Used in exclamatory or interrogative contexts to express degree or extent, often with an emotional nuance.

どんなに嬉うれしかったか、言こと葉ばにできない。
I can't put into words how happy I was.
どんなに待まっても彼かれは来こなかった。
No matter how long I waited, he didn't come.

Used in concessive patterns with ても/でも to mean 'no matter how much' or 'even if'. Often followed by a verb or adjective in the ても form.

どんなに忙いそがしくても、運うん動どうする時じ間かんは作つくるべきだ。
No matter how busy you are, you should make time to exercise.
どんなに高たかくても、彼かれはその車くるまを買かうだろう。
However expensive it is, he will probably buy that car.

Usage patterns

どんなに〈形けい容よう詞し〉てもno matter how [adjective] it is
どんなに寒さむくても、彼かれは毎まい日にち外そとを走はしる。
No matter how cold it is, he runs outside every day.
どんなに〈事こと〉かexpresses how [adjective/verb] something is, with emotional emphasis
彼かれがどんなに悲かなしいか、誰だれも分わかっていない。
No one understands how sad he is.
どんなに〈動どう詞し〉てもno matter how much one does [verb]
どんなに勉べん強きょうしても、彼かの女じょはいつも自じ信しんがないと言いう。
No matter how much she studies, she always says she isn't confident.
どんなに〜だろうexpresses wondering how much/how [adjective/verb] something must be
合ごう格かくしたら、どんなに嬉うれしいだろう。
If I pass, how happy I would be!

Related words· 6

どれほど sense 1
どんなに and どれほど both express degree or extent, but どれほど feels more formal and literary while どんなに is common in everyday speech.
いくらN5sense 2
いくら with ても/でも means 'no matter how much', similar to どんなに, but いくら is more colloquial and often implies a quantitative or monetary sense.
どれだけ sense 1
どれだけ and どんなに can both mean 'to what extent', but どれだけ often has a quantitative nuance (how much/how many) while どんなに emphasizes emotional degree.
いかにN2
どんなに is the neutral, everyday word for 'how much/to what extent' and for 'no matter how much', while いかに is its more formal, literary counterpart.

Show 2 more

なんという
どんなに expresses 'how much/to what extent' with a focus on degree or intensity, whereas 何という expresses astonishment at the nature or quality of something.
あんなにN3
どんなに is the interrogative/exclamatory 'how much', whereas あんなに is the demonstrative 'that much' referring to a specific known degree.

Don't confuse with

どのように sense 1
どんなに asks about degree or intensity ('how much'), while どのように asks about manner or method ('in what way'), so they are not interchangeable despite the similar sound.
そんなにN5
そんなに states a specific degree ('that much'), while どんなに asks or exclaims about an unspecified degree ('however much; how much').

Etymology

Compound of どんな (donna, 'what kind of') + に (ni, adverbial particle). The exact historical derivation is straightforward; the word has been used as an adverb of degree since at least the early modern period.