Grammar Info

N1 Lesson 5: 8/17

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 + な + のなんのって

Details

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    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 何(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

--:--

    A：「疲(つか)れた顔(かお)だね。」
    B：「昨日(きのう)は騒音(そうおん)で眠(ねむ)れなかったから、もう眠(ねむ)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(ともだち)は日帰(ひがえ)り旅行(りょこう)について話(はな)す、A：「で、お腹(なか)がすいてなかった？」
    B：「そりゃお腹(なか)がすいたのなんのって、一人(ひとり)でご飯(はん)三(さん)杯(ばい)も食(たべ)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(いま)買(か)ったケーキはどう？食(た)べてみたい。」
    B：「ケーキおいしいのなんのって、もう完食(かんしょく)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.'

    A：「田舎(いなか)はどうだった？」
    B：「よかったよ。静(しず)かなのなんのって虫(むし)の音(ね)が聞(き)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(へた)クソでさ。修理(しゅうり)が上手(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)経(た)っただけでまた壊(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 (3 in total)

      • wrt7MameLZE33wlmpCAV

        wrt7MameLZE33wlmpCAV

        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

        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.

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