99840
> そんなことはどうでもいいよ。『例のあの人』が **どんな** だったか覚えてると思う? (Japanese TL)  
>  Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?
> (original Harry Potter text)

I'm confused at seeing どんな with no noun following. It feels like it ought to
be 『例のあの人』がどんな **人** だったか (what kind of **person** was You-Know-Who?), or
something like that.

Is this grammatical? Is it common? When can it be done?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-06-04T15:46:58.877
99838
2023-06-05T03:09:16.417
7944
question
grammar questions ellipsis
Use of どんな with no following noun
大辞泉 lists
[どんな](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E3%81%A9%E3%82%93%E3%81%AA/#jn-162106)
as 形動=na-adjective, according to which どんなだった is a totally grammatical plain
usage.

For the particular case, どんな人だった sounds like referring to the personality (the
person was gentle or nasty or whatever) and どんなだった feels more appropriate when
talking about the appearance.

In terms of idiomaticity, I can't give a clear distinction, but as you guessed
どんなだった is less common (or less frequently used) than どんな＋Noun or どう.

  1. How was the travel? 旅行はどうだった (どんなだった is less common)
  2. What kind of person was he? 彼はどんなひとでしたか
  3. How was he? (彼はどんなでしたか)

I think the difference between 2/3 in English more or less corresponds to that
in Japanese. 2 asks what _he_ was like as a person and 3 about his condition.
In some specific contexts, 彼はどんなでしたか can be used (e.g. the asker knows _he_ is
ill and asking the person who visited him how ill he was), but in most cases
彼は元気でしたか is more appropriate (just like _how are you_ ).
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-06-04T23:39:44.770
99840
2023-06-04T23:39:44.770
45489
99838
answer
This predicative usage of どんな is not very common. Though it seems grammatical,
どんなだった sounds to me a bit colloquial. I don’t think I have ever said it in my
life.

From a very practical point of view, you could use it when the noun you would
otherwise modify with どんな is one that vaguely describes what something or
someone is like, such as 様子 and 感じ. You can always say those words to be on
the safer side, of course.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-06-05T03:09:16.417
99846
2023-06-05T03:09:16.417
43676
99838
answer