だにdani / dani shinai“even; not even”

だに／だにしない means even; not even ~. It is a JLPT N1 Japanese grammar pattern used to express that something reaches an extreme, whether it happens (positive) or, more commonly, doesn’t happen at all.

This grammar point often appears in literature, formal essays, and the reading section of the JLPT N1. If you want to add dramatic, emphatic weight to a statement—especially when an action is almost unthinkable—だに is a pattern worth mastering.

What does だに mean?

Use だに when you want to express that something happens to a degree so extreme it defies expectation. In the positive, it’s “even (did X).” In the negative, with だにしない or だに…ない, it’s “not even (the most basic action).”

Natural translations include:

• even; so much as; not even; barely

The best translation depends on the surrounding emotion—often shock, fear, or strong judgment. The grammar is highly literary, so English glosses like “couldn’t even begin to” or “dared not so much as” often capture the nuance better than a flat “even.”

How to form だに

The pattern attaches to the dictionary form of verbs. Nouns can also be used, but the pattern is predominantly verbal and always literary.

Common real-world attachments:

• 想像(そうぞう)だにしない (not even imagine)
• 考(かんが)えるだに恐(おそ)ろしい (even thinking about it is terrifying)
• 口(くち)にするだに恥(は)ずかしい (even mentioning it is embarrassing)

Because だに always follows the dictionary form, the only conjugation to double-check is the negative ending on the main verb: ～だにしない or ～だに…ない depending on the sentence structure.

When is だに used?

Use だに in situations where:

• you want to emphasize how extreme or unbelievable an action (or its absence) is
• the emotional tone is shocked, horrified, awed, or deeply judgmental
• you are writing or speaking in a formal, literary, or narrative register

This pattern almost never appears in casual conversation. You’ll find it in novels, speeches, critical essays, and high-stakes JLPT reading passages. When it appears with the negative, it’s almost always だにしない, not a separate negative verb that happens to follow だに.

だに example sentences

After each sentence, notice the emotional charge: fear, regret, anger, shock. That charge is what makes だに unreplaceable by a neutral “even.”

Nuance of だに

The core nuance is extreme emphasis, often bordering on the unbelievable. With だにしない, the scale is zero—the action is so far from happening that the speaker cannot conceive of it. With positive だに, the scale is 100%—the mere act of doing X already carries the full emotional weight.

This nuance sets it apart from simpler patterns like さえ, which mark inclusion (“even X happens too”) but lack the dramatic, almost rhetorical flair of だに.

だに vs さえ

Both だに and さえ can translate to “even,” but their tone and usage differ sharply.

If you tried to swap さえ into 想像(そうぞう)だにしない, you’d get 想像(そうぞう)さえしない, which is grammatical but flat—it means “I don’t even imagine it,” not “the very idea is beyond my imagination.” The emotional gap is large.

Common mistakes with だに

Is だに on the JLPT?

Test questions often present a sentence with an emotional verb like 想像(そうぞう)する or 考える(かんがえる) and ask you to choose between さえ, すら, だに. The presence of an archaic or dramatic register points you toward だに.

Practice questions for だに

Learning path for だに

Related grammar to review next

• だの～だの — because it also adds literary, list-like emphasis in formal or critical speech
• ぶる・ぶって・ぶった — because it deals with attitude-heavy, judgmental expression
• だろうに — because it also conveys strong emotional stance, often in literary narrative
• ぶり・っぷり — because it transforms a plain action into a stylized, dramatic description

Learn だに with Hane

If you want to review だに together with the related patterns above, Hane helps you practice Japanese in short, focused sessions.

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