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どんなに~ても (Donna ni ... te mo) Meaning Japanese Grammar - No Matter How

Author Anna Baffa Volpe for article 'どんなに~ても (Donna ni ... te mo) Meaning Japanese Grammar - No Matter How'

Anna Baffa Volpe

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 cases How?
  • どんなに combined with the ても form is translated as no matter how (much)
Sentence 1 どんなに+ても or でも form+Sentence 2

Some examples of verbs in the form ても / でも:

  • ()べる eat ⇨ どんなに()べても: No matter how much you eat ...
  • (がん)()do my best, work hard ⇨ どんなに(がん)()っても: No matter how hard you try ...
  • ()read ⇨ どんなに()んでも: No matter how much you read ...
  • (べん)(きょう)する study ⇨ どんなに(べん)(きょう)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()いても()()()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()(ぎょう)はどんなに(がん)()っても1()(かん)()(じょう)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(はな)しても、()かってくれない。

No matter how much I talk, he won’t understand.

No matter how much you eat, you won't gain weight! 15 miracle foods.
いくら()べても: No matter how much you eat

いくら()べても(ふと)らない!?()(せき)()(もの)15(せん)

No matter how much you eat, you won't gain weight! 15 miracle foods.

(せん) is a numeric suffix to count choices, options, selections in this case of food.

あの(ひと)()(まえ)はどんなに()いても(おぼ)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:

()()(てき)(こう)()(あらわ)(どう)()(もち)いて、あれこれやってみても()(たい)(どお)りにならないという()()(あらわ)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 (はや)soon, early.

早い
くても

どんなに(はや)くても2()(かん)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.

  • (しん)(せつ)な: kind, gentle ⇨ どんなに(しん)(せつ)でも no matter how kind ...
  • (へい)(ぼん)ordinary ⇨ どんなに(へい)(ぼん)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.

No matter how painful today is, it's up to you to be able to laugh tomorrow.
どんなに(くる)しい()でも No matter how painful the day may be

たとえ今日(きょう)がどんなに(くる)しい()でも明日(あした)(わら)えるかは()(ぶん)()(だい)

No matter how painful today is, it's up to you to be able to laugh tomorrow.

()(ぶん) jibun means myself, yourself, oneself

Other examples of どんなに~ても

No matter how hard I try, it doesn't pay off? Characteristics of people whose work is not going well and 5 countermeasures.
どんなに(がん)()っても: No matter how hard I / you try

どんなに(がん)()っても(むく)われない?()(ごと)上手(うま)くいかない(ひと)(とく)(ちょう)(たい)(さく)5(せん)

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(なら)(はじ)めたが、どんなに(れん)(しゅう)しても(ぜん)(ぜん)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.