どんな: Asking 'What Kind Of' in Japanese (Meaning + Examples)
The question どんな asks
どんな asks what kind or what type of something — you reach for it when you want a description, not just a yes/no answer or a specific name. Ask どんな音楽 and you're inviting "jazz, rock, something slow," not "yes." The one rule that governs everything else: どんな always attaches to a noun that follows it — どんな映画 ("what kind of movie"), どんな仕事 ("what kind of job"). Treat it as a single piece glued to its noun.
ヤッタンはどんな音楽が好きですか。
ヤッタンは どんな おんがくが すきですか。
What kind of music does Yattan like?
モチはどんな人ですか。
モチは どんな ひとですか。
What kind of person is Mochi?
先生、これはどんな本ですか。
せんせい、これは どんな ほんですか。
Teacher, what kind of book is this?
Slotting it in front of a noun
There is nothing to conjugate — you just drop どんな directly before the noun, and it behaves the same whether the sentence is polite or casual. What you can't do is let it hang with no noun: ✗これはどんなですか is broken, so either supply the noun (これはどんな本ですか) or switch to どう. The last row below previews the "any" pattern we'll unpack later.
| Pattern | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| どんな + NOUN | どんな映画 | what kind of movie |
| どんな + NOUN + が… | どんな食べ物が好き？ | what kind of food do you like? |
| どんな + NOUN + ですか | どんな町ですか | what kind of town is it? |
| どんな + NOUN + でも | どんな問題でも | any problem at all |
Where it sits in the こ・そ・あ・ど family
どんな is the "question" member of a four-word set. The others point to a kind of thing the way これ・それ・あれ point to objects — and every one of them shares どんな's noun-hunger, so a following noun is never optional (✓ そんなこと, "that kind of thing," keeps its こと).
| Form | Core idea | Example |
|---|---|---|
| こんな | this kind of (near me) | こんな店 = a shop like this |
| そんな | that kind of (near you) | そんな話 = that kind of story |
| あんな | that kind of (over there / we both know) | あんな車 = a car like that |
| どんな | what kind of (question) | どんな店？ = what kind of shop? |
ヤッタンはこんな天気が大好きです。
ヤッタンは こんな てんきが だいすきです。
Yattan loves this kind of weather.
そんな映画は見たくない。
そんな えいがは みたくない。
I don't want to watch that kind of movie.
どんな or どう?
This is the trap the JLPT keeps setting. Both can come out as "how / what" in English, but they occupy opposite slots:
- どんな must grab a noun: どんな人ですか ("what kind of person is it?").
- どう stands alone before a verb or です and asks "how / how about": 元気はどう？ ("how are you doing?"), この映画はどうだった？ ("how was this movie?").
So ✗どんなですか (nothing after it) and ✗どう人 are both impossible, and "How was the trip?" is 旅行はどうだった, never どんなだった. The test is purely mechanical: a noun follows → どんな; nothing follows → どう.
弟はどんなゲームをしていますか。
おとうとは どんな ゲームを して いますか。
What kind of game is the little brother playing?
A noun (ゲーム) follows, so どんな — not どう.
モチ、新しい学校はどう？
モチ、あたらしい がっこうは どう？
Mochi, how's the new school?
No noun after it, so どう stands alone.
どんな〜でも — "any ~ at all"
Tack でも onto the noun and どんな flips from a question into "any ~ at all" / "no matter what kind of ~." Don't drop that でも — どんな質問でもいいです means "any question is fine," while どんな質問いいです is broken. The pattern loves to pair with something you can do or that is fine no matter what.
ヤッタンはどんな問題でも解ける。
ヤッタンは どんな もんだいでも とける。
Yattan can solve any problem at all.
どんな食べ物でも大丈夫です。
どんな たべものでも だいじょうぶです。
Any kind of food is fine.
先生はどんな質問でも答えてくれる。
せんせいは どんな しつもんでも こたえて くれる。
The teacher will answer any question at all.
The short version
- どんな + NOUN = "what kind of ~": どんな音楽, どんな人.
- It never stands alone — a noun must follow.
- Family: こんな・そんな・あんな・どんな (this / that / that / what kind), all noun-attaching.
- Use どう (not どんな) when no noun follows: この映画はどう？
- どんな〜でも = "any ~ at all": どんな問題でも解ける.
Practice it
Choose どんな, どう, or the right こ・そ・あ・ど word.
＿＿＿に入れるのに最もよいものを選びなさい。
Choose the grammar pattern that best completes the sentence.
＿＿＿スポーツでも彼にはわけなく出来る。
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between どんな and どう?
どんな must be followed by a noun and means 'what kind of ~': どんな人ですか. どう stands alone before a verb or です and means 'how / how about': この映画はどう？ If a noun follows, use どんな; if not, use どう.
Can どんな ever stand on its own?
No. Unlike どう, どんな always needs a noun right after it. To ask 'how is it?' with nothing following, use どう, not どんな.
What are こんな, そんな, and あんな?
They are the statement members of the same family: こんな = this kind of (near me), そんな = that kind of (near you), あんな = that kind of (away from both). Like どんな, each must be followed by a noun.
What does どんな〜でも mean?
Adding でも after the noun turns どんな into 'any ~ at all': どんな問題でも解ける ('can solve any problem at all'). It means 'no matter what kind of ~.'
Where どんな fits
Don't confuse it with
- だけ · N5 — だけ means 'only' or 'just' — water だけ, one だけ, look だけ. Learn how to attach it to nouns, numbers, and verbs, what happens to を and が, and how it differs from しか〜ない.
More N5 grammar to explore
Keep going with related patterns at the same level:
- ある vs いる — Japanese has two existence verbs: いる for living things (people, animals) and ある for objects, plants, and events. Learn が, に, the negatives, and the classic mistakes.
- ごろ vs くらい — ごろ marks an approximate POINT in time (3時ごろ = around 3 o'clock), while くらい/ぐらい marks an approximate amount or duration (3時間くらい = about 3 hours).
- 〜ほうがいい — 〜ほうがいい gives advice: use the past (た) form for 'you should do X' (休んだほうがいい) and the ない-form for 'you'd better not' (行かないほうがいい). Learn the forms and nuance.
- じゃない — じゃない is the casual negative of nouns and な-adjectives: 学生じゃない ('not a student'). Learn じゃないです, ではない, the past じゃなかった, and the tag-question 〜じゃない？
- か Particle — The particle か turns a statement into a question (〜ですか), means 'or' between nouns (AかB), and makes question words indefinite: だれか someone, なにか something, どこか somewhere.
- まで — まで marks an end point in time or space — 5時まで ('until 5'), 駅まで ('to the station'). Learn how it pairs with から for 'from…to,' and how まで differs from までに.