どんな

What Kind of

Level 1Sounds Like donna

Use どんな when you want to ask 'What kind of...?' or 'What is [Noun] like?'. It always comes before a noun to inquire about its characteristics or category.

How It Works

1. Function and Meaning
どんな is used to inquire about the qualities, characteristics, or category of a person, place, or thing. It translates to 'what kind of' or 'what sort of.' It is also the standard way to ask 'What is [X] like?' in Japanese (e.g., 東京はどんな所ですか - What is Tokyo like?). In natural English, it is frequently translated simply as 'what' (e.g., どんな音楽が好きですか - What music do you like?). When you ask a question with どんな, the answer can be an い-adjective, a な-adjective, or another noun that defines the category. Importantly, どんな is often used to ask for a specific example within a broader category (e.g., Q: どんなスポーツが好きですか。 A: テニスが好きです。). The formal equivalent of どんな is どのような, which is often used in business or polite written contexts.

2. Grammatical Rule & The Ko-So-A-Do System
どんな is part of the demonstrative 'Ko-So-A-Do' series (こんな 'this kind of', そんな 'that kind of', あんな 'that kind of over there', どんな 'what kind of'). Because of this, どんな must be followed by a noun. It cannot stand alone as the subject or object of a sentence.

  • ✅ どんな ＋ Noun ＋ ですか
  • ❌ どんな ですか (Grammatically incorrect / non-standard, though sometimes heard in casual speech)
  • ✅ どんなのですか (Correct using the nominalizer の)

Note that the どんな ＋ Noun block can also take standard particles like が, を, or に to act as the subject or object of a verb (e.g., どんな映画を見ますか - What kind of movies do you watch?).

3. The 'Any' Usage (どんな ＋ Noun ＋ も / でも)
When the structure どんな ＋ Noun is paired with the particle も or the でも structure, it changes from a question to a statement meaning 'any' or 'no matter what kind of.' When paired with a negative verb, it means 'not any' or 'no [Noun]'.
Examples:
・どんな本でもいいです (Any kind of book is fine).
・どんな時も (At any time / No matter the time).
・どんな食べ物も好きじゃない (I don't like any kind of food).

4. A Related Adverb (どんなに)
A related adverb, どんなに, is used to mean 'how much' or 'no matter how.' While どんな modifies nouns, どんなに modifies the predicate (which can be a verb, adjective, or noun + copula). It is frequently used with the て-form + も (or でも for nouns) to mean 'no matter how' (e.g., どんなに高くても - No matter how expensive it is; どんなに雨でも行きます - No matter how much it rains, I will go). Additionally, it is very commonly used in exclamatory sentences ending with か or だろう to mean 'How much...!' or 'You have no idea how...!' (e.g., どんなに嬉しいか - You have no idea how happy I am!).

5. Nuance vs. Other Question Words

  • どんな vs. 何の: English speakers often confuse these two. 何の asks about the specific content, topic, or material (e.g., 何の本 - A book about what? / A history book). どんな asks for a description, quality, or category (e.g., どんな本 - What kind of book? / An interesting book).
  • どんな vs. どの, どれ, and どちら: どの asks you to pick a specific item from a defined set of options, whereas どんな asks for a description from an open-ended category. どれ is the standalone pronoun for 'which one', and どちら is used when choosing between exactly two items.
  • どんな vs. どういう: Both translate to 'what kind of', but どんな focuses on appearance, state, or characteristics, while どういう focuses on meaning, factual circumstances, or definitions.

Examples (6)

  1. どんな食べ物が好きですか。

    What kind of food do you like?

    Word by Word: What kind of food (subject) like is it?

    Here, どんな modifies the noun 食べ物（たべもの） to ask about the speaker's preferences in terms of categories or flavors.

  2. 東京はどんな町ですか。

    What kind of town is Tokyo? / What is Tokyo like?

    Word by Word: Tokyo (topic) what kind of town is it?

    This is the standard way to ask for a description of a place. The answer would likely be 'It's a busy town' or 'It's a big town.'

  3. どんな本でもいいですよ。

    Any book is fine.

    Word by Word: What kind of book even (if) good is it.

    When used with でも, どんな means 'any' or 'no matter what kind of'.

  4. どんな食べ物も好きではありません。

    I don't like any kind of food.

    Word by Word: What kind of food even, like is not.

    When どんな is paired with a noun, the particle も, and a negative verb, it means 'not any' or 'no [Noun]'.

  5. どんなに高くても、買いたいです。

    No matter how expensive it is, I want to buy it.

    Word by Word: No matter how expensive even if, want to buy.

    The related adverb どんなに is used with the ても form to create the pattern どんなに〜ても, meaning 'no matter how'.

  6. それはどんなのですか。

    What kind of (one) is that?

    Word by Word: That (topic) what kind of one is it?

    While どんな cannot stand alone, it can be used with the nominalizer の to refer to an object without repeating the noun.

Common Mistakes

  • Using どんな without a following noun or nominalizer.

    その映画はどんなですか。
    その映画はどんな映画ですか。/ その映画はどんなのですか。

    どんな is a determiner and must always be attached to a noun. If you don't want to repeat the noun, you must use the nominalizer の to make it 'どんなの'.

  • Confusing どんな with どの when asking to identify a specific item.

    どんな傘があなたのなのですか。
    どの傘があなたのなのですか。

    If you are asking someone to pick their specific umbrella out of a group, use どの (which). Use どんな only if you are asking about the style or type of umbrella they own.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

どんなLevel 1What Kind of

Learn This First

To understand 'どんな' (what kind of), you need to be familiar with how demonstrative adjectives like 'この' function by modifying a following noun. Additionally, you should understand basic question formation using the particle 'か' and the general concept of interrogative words like '何'.

Words in This Pattern