Grammar Info

N1 Lesson 5: 9/19

のなんのってSo much that, Extremely, Very

Structure

Verb + のなんのって
[い]Adjective + のなんのって
[な]Adjective + + のなんのって

Details

  • Casual

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 (なん)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.

のなんのって itself is a more condensed variation of ~の~ないのって, which has the same meaning, but has (A) appear in both the positive and negative for 'to say it's (A) or not (A), (B)', where (B) will usually be a phrase explaining the extent of (A). Occasionally (B) will be left unsaid, as ~の~ないのって itself is always used to mean 'extremely (A)'.

Examples

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  • (かあ)さんが「勉強(べんきょう)しろ」ってうるさいのなんのって、もう(いえ)(かえ)りたくないよ…。

    My mom is extremely annoying with comments like 'study!', and I don't want to go home anymore.

  • あの旅館(りょかん)女将(おかみ)さんは愛想(あいそ)(わる)のなんのって、もう二度(にど)()くもんか!

    That ryokan's proprietress' amiability was so bad that there is no way I would ever go there again!

  • ジャングルの(なか)でワニと()くわした(とき)(あせ)ったのなんのって、もう()ぬかと(おも)ったよ!

    I was extremely startled when I happened upon a crocodile in the jungle that I thought I was going to die!

  • 東京(とうきょう)(なつ)()(あつ)のなんのって(すこ)(ある)いただけで気持(きも)(わる)くなるくらいです。

    Tokyo's summer is extremely humid, so much so that it feels gross even if you just walked around a little bit.

  • 「あそこのエンジニアが下手(へた)クソでさ。修理(しゅうり)上手(うま)くないのなんのって修理(しゅうり)から一日(いちにち)()っただけでまた(こわ)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 (4 in total)

        • djcostcosamples

          djcostcosamples

          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

          wrt7MameLZE33wlmpCAV

          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.

        • shiruneki

          shiruneki

          it’s also possible to say のなんの only, I just saw this sentence on a drill book

          負けたときの悔しさ(のなんの)言葉では言い表せない。

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