こんな, そんな, and あんな are the kind / type row of the こそあど grid. They mean "this kind of ~," "that kind of ~," and are how Japanese says English "such a…" or "a … like this/that." The question member どんな — "what kind of?" — is one of the most useful words you will ever learn, and this row hides a pragmatic subtlety that beginners almost always miss: そんな often carries a dismissive, emotional charge.
The four members
| Word | Meaning | Points at |
|---|---|---|
| こんな〜 | this kind of ~ / a ~ like this | a type near the speaker's experience |
| そんな〜 | that kind of ~ / a ~ like that | a type the listener raised or is close to |
| あんな〜 | that kind of ~ (that we both know) | a type both parties know / remember |
| どんな〜 | what kind of ~? | the question form |
Grammatically these behave like the この row: they are modifiers and normally take a following noun. But instead of pointing at a specific object ("this book"), they point at a category ("this kind of book").
こんな本が読みたかったんだ。
konna hon ga yomitakatta n da
This is exactly the kind of book I wanted to read.
どんな仕事をしていますか。
donna shigoto o shite imasu ka
What kind of work do you do?
どんな音楽が好きですか。
donna ongaku ga suki desu ka
What kind of music do you like?
どんな (what kind of) is not どの (which one)
English speakers constantly confuse these two question words because English "which" blurs them. They ask genuinely different questions:
- どんな + noun asks about character or category — "what sort of thing is it?" The answer describes a quality: quiet, spicy, upbeat, expensive.
- どの + noun asks you to pick one specific member out of a known set that is present or clearly defined — "which of these?" The answer identifies an item: the red one, the third one, that one.
どんな車が欲しいですか。
donna kuruma ga hoshii desu ka
What kind of car do you want? (describe it — small, electric, cheap…)
この三台の中で、どの車がいいですか。
kono san-dai no naka de, dono kuruma ga ii desu ka
Of these three cars, which one do you like? (pick one)
The nuance beginners miss: そんな's emotional color
Here is where this page earns its N4 rating. On paper そんな is the neutral "that kind of." In real speech it very often carries a dismissive, exasperated, or protesting charge — "that sort of nonsense," "that kind of thing (which I reject)." The category being pointed at is one the speaker wants to push away.
そんなこと言わないでよ。
sonna koto iwanaide yo
Don't say things like that. (hurt / protesting)
そんな人だとは思わなかった。
sonna hito da to wa omowanakatta
I never thought he was that kind of person. (disappointed)
えっ、そんなの聞いてないよ。
e, sonna no kiitenai yo
What? Nobody told me anything like that! (indignant)
そんな can absolutely be neutral ("そんな時は電話してください" — "call me at times like that"), but you should hear the potential for judgment in it. When someone answers a bad idea with a flat そんなの…, the color is closer to English "that rubbish" than to a colorless "that kind." The あんな form can carry the same charge about a person or thing both speakers know:
あんな店、二度と行かない。
anna mise, nido to ikanai
I'm never going to a place like that again. (that place we both know — disgusted)
そんなに・こんなに: to such an extent
Add に and the kind-words become degree adverbs meaning "to this/that extent," "so (much)." They modify verbs and adjectives rather than nouns, and they are extremely common.
こんなに時間がかかるとは思わなかった。
konna ni jikan ga kakaru to wa omowanakatta
I never thought it would take this much time.
そんなに怒らないでよ。
sonna ni okoranaide yo
Don't be so angry.
どんなに謝っても許してくれなかった。
donna ni ayamattemo yurushite kurenakatta
No matter how much I apologized, she wouldn't forgive me.
Notice そんなに inherits the emotional pull of そんな: そんなに怒らないで is almost always said to talk someone down from an overreaction.
Standing alone: add の
Like every modifier row, こんな needs something after it — but that "something" can be the nominalizer の ("one / thing"), which lets the phrase stand as a noun. そんなの = "something like that / a thing of that sort."
そんなの要らないよ。
sonna no iranai yo
I don't need anything like that.
Cross-reference: manner vs kind
Do not confuse this kind row with the manner row こう・そう・ああ, which describes how an action is done rather than what type a thing is. "こんな風に (in this kind of way)" and "こう (like this)" overlap in feel but attach differently. The manner row has its own page — see こう・そう・ああ — and the degree adverbs above connect to the broader family of intensity words.
Common mistakes
❌ どの音楽が好きですか。（ジャンルを尋ねたい）
Incorrect — this asks 'which specific track,' but to ask about genre/type you want どんな.
✅ どんな音楽が好きですか。
donna ongaku ga suki desu ka
What kind of music do you like?
❌ そんな要らないよ。
Incorrect — そんな is a modifier and needs a noun or the nominalizer の to stand alone.
✅ そんなの要らないよ。
sonna no iranai yo
I don't need anything like that.
❌ こんなに本を読みました。（「こういう本」の意味で言いたい）
Incorrect — こんなに means 'to this extent'; to say 'this kind of book' you need the noun-modifier こんな本.
✅ こんな本を読みました。
konna hon o yomimashita
I read this kind of book.
❌ あんな音楽が好きですか。（初対面の相手に好みを尋ねている）
Odd — あんな assumes a shared referent both of you know; to neutrally ask a stranger's taste, use どんな.
✅ どんな音楽が好きですか。
donna ongaku ga suki desu ka
What kind of music do you like?
Key takeaways
- こんな/そんな/あんな/どんな = "this / that / what kind of ~," modifiers that take a following noun (or の).
- Keep どんな ("what sort of," describe it) apart from どの ("which one," pick it).
- そんな (and そんなに) frequently carry a dismissive, emotional charge — "that kind of nonsense," "don't be so angry" — not just neutral "that kind."
- Add に to get the degree adverbs こんなに・そんなに・どんなに ("to this/that extent, so much").
- The あ-column here is regular (あんな), unlike the irregular あそこ / ああ elsewhere in the grid.
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- The こそあど SystemN5 — How Japanese demonstratives build a single こ/そ/あ/ど grid crossing distance with word type — pronouns, noun-modifiers, places, directions, kinds, and manner.