どんなに～ても (Donna ni ... te mo) Meaning Japanese Grammar - No Matter How
Anna Baffa Volpe
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Anna Baffa Volpe
7 min reading time
The expression どんなに～ても (Donna ni ... te mo) means no matter how, no matter how much.
It is a structure that is used with the て form of the verb and the form becomes どんなに～ても or どんなに～でも depending on the verb used.
In this post we learn more about the meaning of どんなに～ても and でも, how it is formed and when どんなに～ても is used through commonly used sentences and material from the Internet.
How どんなに～ても is formed
The structure どんなに～ても is used with verbs, adjectives and nouns.
- どんな belongs to the Kosoado series of the Demonstratives and means
What kind of?,What?and in some casesHow? - どんなに combined with the ても form is translated as
no matter how (much)
Some examples of verbs in the form ても / でも:
- 食べる
eat⇨ どんなに食べても: No matter how much you eat ... - 頑張る
do my best,work hard⇨ どんなに頑張っても: No matter how hard you try ... - 読む
read⇨ どんなに読んでも: No matter how much you read ... - 勉強する
study⇨ どんなに勉強しても: No matter how hard you study...
どんなに～ても followed by a negative sentence
The structure using どんなに+ても is usually followed by a sentence in the negative form. It is used in situations expressing lackingness, insufficiency.
No matter how hard one tries or perseveres to do a certain thing (phrase 1 with どんなにても), it will never be enough to achieve the desired goal (phrase 2 in the negative form).
0:00.00
-1:0-1.00
どんなに悔いても過去は変わらない。
No matter how much you regret it, the past will not change.
In sentence 2 we can also find the affirmative form, but it still refers to a situation that expresses a sense of insufficiency to something that is not enough.
この作業はどんなに頑張っても１時間以上はかかりそう。
No matter how hard I try, this task will take more than an hour.
どんなに is replaced by いくら in colloquial context
いくら話しても、分かってくれない。
No matter how much I talk, he won’t understand.
いくら食べても太らない!?奇跡の食べ物15選。
No matter how much you eat, you won't gain weight! 15 miracle foods.
選 is a numeric suffix to count choices, options, selections in this case of food.
あの人の名前はどんなに聞いても覚えられない。
I can't remember that person's name no matter how many times I hear it.
A Japanese explanation of the use of the structure どんなに～ても:
意志的な行為を表す動詞を用いて、あれこれやってみても期待通りにならないという意味を表す。
It uses a verb expressing a volitional action and it means that it does not work as expected, even if you try to do this or that.
どんなに～ても with Adjectives
The structure is also commonly used with the Adjectives in い and in な.
Example with the adjective 早い soon, early.
どんなに早くても２時間はかかるでしょう。
It will take two hours at the earliest.
The Adjectives in い lose the vowel い and add the adverbial suffix く + ても.
The Adjectives in な behave like nouns, they lose the な syllable and are joined to でも. With Nouns and Adjectives in な we can find であっても from the copula be である used in the middle of the sentence, while だ / です are placed at the end.
- 親切な:
kind,gentle⇨ どんなに親切でも no matter how kind ... - 平凡な
ordinary⇨ どんなに平凡であっても no matter how ordinary ...
どんなに～でも with Nouns
In the case of nouns as well as the adjectives in な, the form becomes:
どんなに + noun + でも or であっても.
たとえ今日がどんなに苦しい日でも明日笑えるかは自分次第。
No matter how painful today is, it's up to you to be able to laugh tomorrow.
自分 jibun means myself, yourself, oneself
Other examples of どんなに～ても
どんなに頑張っても報われない？仕事が上手くいかない人の特徴と対策5選
No matter how hard I try, it doesn't pay off? Characteristics of people whose work is not going well and 5 strategies.
ギターを習い始めたが、どんなに練習しても全然うまくならない。
I’ve started learning to play the guitar but I’m not getting any better at all, no matter how much I practice.
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