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Structure
Verb + のなんのって
[い]Adjective + のなんのって
[な]Adjective + な + のなんのって
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Casual
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About のなんのって
のなんのって is a casual phrase that is used in spoken Japanese to indicate that the word before it is 'excessively (A)', or 'extremely (A)'. This structure consists of the case marking particle の, the pre-noun adjectival 何の 'what kind of', and って, an abbreviation of という 'to say'.
The literal meaning of 'and to say it's (A) or something' just indicates that something is so (A) that if it is not that then the speaker doesn't know what to call it.
This structure will be seen after い-Adjectives, な-Adjectives followed by な, and verbs.
The literal meaning of 'and to say it's (A) or something' just indicates that something is so (A) that if it is not that then the speaker doesn't know what to call it.
This structure will be seen after い-Adjectives, な-Adjectives followed by な, and verbs.
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あんな痩せているのにあの量一人で食べちゃうなんて、びっくりしたのなんのって。I was extremely surprised that such a skinny guy could eat that amount of food all by himself.
- 名古屋の夏は暑いのなんのって、外に出た瞬間シャツが汗でびっしょりになるんだよ。It is so hot in Nagoya in the summer that the moment you step outside, your shirt will be drenched in sweat.
- あの建物は丈夫なのなんのって、去年あった深度7の地震までも耐えたんだよ。That building is so sturdy that it even withstood last year's earthquake that measured 7 on the Japanese seismic scale.
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彼は食べるの食べないのって、30分で3キロも肉を一人で食べた。He eats so much that he ate 3 kg of meat in 30 minutes all by himself.
- あのジェットコースターは大人でも失神するほど怖いの怖くないのって。That rollercoaster is so scary that even an adult would pass out.
Examples
A:「疲れた顔だね。」
B:「昨日は騒音で眠れなかったから、もう眠いのなんのって・・・」A: 'You look tired!'
B: 'I couldn't sleep yesterday because it was noisy, so I am already extremely sleepy…'友達は日帰り旅行について話す、A:「で、お腹がすいてなかった?」
B:「そりゃお腹がすいたのなんのって、一人でご飯3杯も食べたよ。」Friends talking about a day trip, A: 'And then? Weren't you hungry?'
B: 'I was extremely hungry. I ate three bowls of rice by myself!'A:「今買ったケーキはどう?食べてみたい。」
B:「ケーキおいしいのなんのって、もう完食しちゃったほど。」A: 'How is the cake we bought today? I want to try.'
B: 'It was so delicious (to the point) that I ate it all already.'When speaking about the past, のなんのって can be used with both non-past and past forms.
A:「田舎はどうだった?」
B:「よかったよ。静かなのなんのって虫の音が聞こえる。とてもリラックスできた。」A: 'How was the countryside?'
B: 'Great! It was so quiet that one could hear the insects chirping. I was really able to relax.'「あそこのエンジニアが下手クソでさ。修理が上手くないのなんのって。修理から一日経っただけでまた壊れたんだよ。」
'That engineer is absolutely terrible (at his job). He is extremely unskillful! Only one day after 'repairs' it broke again.'
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のなんのって – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (3 in total)
wrt7MameLZE33wlmpCAV
About 1 year ago
Can anyone help break down the Japanese here? I understand this is a phrase, but I’m having trouble figuring out what the distinct “words” are.
The って seems obvious: I’m guessing that’s the casual quote particle. The first の also seems to be nominalizing? So then, なん is なに and the の after it is emphatic/interrogative?
I could really use some help.
djcostcosamples
About 1 year ago
I was just wondering this too!
I found this answer on Stack Exchange: meaning - Why does ~なんてもんじゃない / ~のなんのって mean とても? - Japanese Language Stack Exchange
wrt7MameLZE33wlmpCAV
About 1 year ago
Aw, man, I always forget about the Japanese Stack Exchange. Thanks for the reference.
After reading the top answer there, I can’t believe that I actually parsed the syntax correctly. Even so, I couldn’t possibly have derived the right meaning from that alone.
That explanation from Stack Exchange helped quite a bit.
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