GrammarJLPT N5
→ what kind of
What Kind of / What Sort of
JLPT N5Other (Pre-noun adjectival / rentaishi)Neutral
どんな is a pre-noun adjectival (連体詞) used to ask about the nature, type, or characteristics of something. It always appears directly before a noun and cannot stand alone at the end of a sentence the way どう can. While どう asks 'how' something is in a general or abstract way, どんな specifically asks 'what kind of' and requires a noun to follow it. It is similar in meaning to the more formal どのような, but どんな is used widely in both casual and polite speech. Beyond its interrogative use, どんな can also express 'no matter what kind of' when used in constructions like どんな～ても, giving it a concessive meaning. Because it is one of the most fundamental question words in Japanese, mastering どんな early on is essential for asking about descriptions, preferences, and characteristics.
Functions
#1 Asking about the type or characteristics of something
Structure
どんな + Noun + (particle) + Predicate?
どんな音楽が好きですか。
This is the most common use of どんな. Here it modifies the noun 音楽 (music) to ask about the type or nature of music the listener enjoys. The answer would specify a genre or characteristic, such as ロック (rock) or 静かな音楽 (quiet music). Notice that どんな sits directly before the noun it modifies, functioning like an adjective.What kind of music do you like?
Structures
- Before a noun
- どんな + Noun
Common mistakes
A very common mistake is confusing どんな with どう. While both translate loosely to asking about something, どんな must always be followed by a noun (e.g., どんな人), whereas どう modifies verbs or stands with です (e.g., どうですか). Saying どう人 is grammatically incorrect. Another frequent error is using どんな at the end of a sentence without a noun, such as それはどんなですか — the correct version needs a noun like それはどんなものですか, or you should switch to どう and say それはどうですか. Learners also sometimes confuse どんな with どの, but どの asks 'which one' from a specific set, while どんな asks about characteristics or type in a more open-ended way.
Related
どのどうどれ何のどのような