N1 Addition and Emphasis (Particles)

~だに / ~だにしない: meaning, usage and examples

~だに / ~だにしない means: even... / not even... (formal, literary).

Updated 9 November 2026 · By the My Senpai team · Spotted a mistake? Tell us

Examples

1. この街まちを大だい地震じしんが襲おそうことなど、想像そうぞうするだに恐おそろしい。

   Just imagining a major earthquake hitting this city is terrifying.

2. 彼かれは、私わたしが代表だいひょうに選えらばれるなど、夢ゆめにだに思おもわなかった。

   He never even dreamed that I would be chosen as the representative.

3. 結果けっかは、誰だれも予想よそうだにしなかったものだった。

   The result was something nobody had even imagined.

4. 衛兵えいへいは、観光かんこう客きゃくに囲かこまれても微動びどうだにしなかった。

   The guard didn't move a muscle, even when surrounded by tourists.

When to use it

A literary "even". With a dictionary-form verb it means "just to imagine or think of it": 考かんがえるだに恐おそろしい (frightening even to think about). With a negative it means "not even": 予想よそうだにしなかった事態じたい (a situation no one even foresaw). Used in fixed phrases, mostly in writing and news.

Nuance

Formal and literary. 想像そうぞうするだに and 考かんがえるだに are followed by feelings like 恐おそろしい or ぞっとする. だにしない appears in a few set phrases (微動びどうだにしない, 予想よそうだにしない). It is not productive: do not attach it to arbitrary verbs.

Compare

～すら / ～さえ are the everyday "even": 想像そうぞうさえしなかった. ～だに is the literary version: 想像そうぞうだにしなかった. ～たりとも needs a minimal quantity: 一いち円えんたりとも. ～だに works with verbs of thinking or moving, not with quantities.

Tip: Memorize four phrases and you have the whole pattern: 想像そうぞうするだに恐おそろしい, 予想よそうだにしない, 微動びどうだにしない, 夢ゆめにだに思おもわない.