なんて details
write + the very idea that … — holds a whole clause up and lets the next words judge it
kaku nante
the very idea that … — holds a whole clause up and lets the next words judge it
あの二人が別れるなんて、信じられない。
ano futari ga wakareru nante, shinjirarenai.
I can't believe those two are splitting up. casual
相談もせずに決めてしまうなんて、ひどいと思いませんか。
soudan mo sezu ni kimete shimau nante, hidoi to omoimasen ka.
Don't you think it's awful to just decide without even asking? neutral
- dictionary form
- past
- negative
- negative + past
- noun
- na-adjective
- colloquial
Examples
the very idea that … — the clause is held up as unbelievable, outrageous or impressive, and the following predicate delivers the verdict
あの二人が別れるなんて、信じられない。
ano futari ga wakareru nante, shinjirarenai.
I can't believe those two are splitting up. casual
相談もせずに決めてしまうなんて、ひどいと思いませんか。
soudan mo sezu ni kimete shimau nante, hidoi to omoimasen ka.
Don't you think it's awful to just decide without even asking? neutral
初めての大会で優勝するなんて、本当にすばらしいですね。
hajimete no taikai de yuushou suru nante, hontou ni subarashii desu ne.
Winning at your very first tournament — that really is something. neutral
あの人が新人だなんて、とても思えない。
ano hito ga shinjin da nante, totemo omoenai.
I can hardly believe he's a newcomer. casual
Formation
{P}なんてattaches to plain form{N}だなんてattaches to noun{NA-stem}だなんてattaches to na-adjective
Variant notes
- なんてね — tacked on after the speaker's own remark to take it back as a joke — 一生働きたくない。なんてね。
Notes
and drops it for the dismissive one (学生なんて). A different なんて
stands BEFORE the word it exclaims — 何てきれいな景色だろう — and
that one is the exclamation itself.
Related patterns
Similar
ことか builds the exclamation into its own tail and needs a question word up front (何度言ったことか); the clause-quoting なんて supplies no exclamation itself — it marks the clause as the thing being reacted to, and the reaction is spelled out after it (信じられない, ひどい, えらい).
ものか throws the speaker's own refusal as a rhetorical question and always denies (誰が行くものか); なんて reacts to a fact or claim already on the table — the speaker's own included — and can just as easily admire it (一人でやりきったなんて、たいしたものだ).
Lookalikes
Both wrap a clause as something quoted, but という hands the content on with no attitude (辞めるという話) while なんて guarantees one — the verdict has to land somewhere after it, in the predicate, the quoting verb or the head noun.
だ is what makes the clause reading explicit — 学生なんて downgrades the noun, 学生だなんて quotes a whole claim and disbelieves it; without だ the reading falls back on whether an overt subject is standing in front (彼が犯人なんて).