Anyone and always with 誰だって and いつだって

Usage Notes

Question word ＋ だって belongs to casual conversation, and it sounds stronger than the でも versions. 誰(だれ)だって can also take a negative to mean “nobody”, as in 誰(だれ)だってそんなことはしないよ, “nobody would do that”. 誰(だれ)でも usually can’t.

何(なん)だって is “anything”, as in 何(なん)だってする, “I’ll do anything”. The same なんだって has other uses too. なんだって？ on its own is a startled or challenging “What?!” or “What did you say?!”, and なんだって can also mean “why on earth”, as in なんだってこんなことに, “why on earth did it come to this?”

Formation

Covering Every Case

A question word asks about one case. With だって, the answer is “whichever one you pick”. It says something holds without exception.

These work like 誰(だれ)でも, いつでも, 何(なん)でも, どこでも, どれでも, and どっちでも. だって is more casual, and it leans harder on the “every”. One difference is that だって also works with a negative, as the next section shows.

Everyone with 誰だって

誰(だれ)だって states something true of all people. It often says that something is normal. If everybody does it or feels it, there’s nothing strange about it.

• ミスなんて誰(だれ)だってするよ。

• Everyone makes mistakes.

• あんなの見(み)たら誰(だれ)だって怖(こわ)いよ。
• Anyone would be scared after seeing that.

With a negative, 誰(だれ)だって means “nobody”. It’s a general statement about what no one would or could do. 誰(だれ)でも usually can’t be used this way.

• あんな所(ところ)には誰(だれ)だって行(い)かないよ。
• Nobody would go to a place like that.

To report that no one actually did something, use 誰(だれ)も〜ない, as in 誰(だれ)も来(こ)なかった, “nobody came”.

Novelist Imatake has been shot in his hotel room. His old friend Sasai, who shared the room, insists a robber shot Imatake the moment he opened the door to a knock. Conan has learned from Sasai that Imatake was tidy, and now points out toothpaste on the dead man’s mouth and a toothbrush lying beside him. He concludes that Imatake must have been brushing his teeth just before he was shot.

笹井(ささい):

「ハハハ…誰(だれ)だって歯(は)ぐらいみがくさ！！」

“Ha ha ha... Everybody brushes their teeth!!”

「きれい好(ず)きならなおさらだ！！」

“All the more if you're a neat freak!!”

View Full Example

Conan notices toothpaste on the murder victim’s mouth, a sign he was brushing his teeth when he was shot. Sasai laughs it off. 誰(だれ)だって makes brushing your teeth something everybody does, so the clue sounds like nothing worth noticing.

Any Time and Always with いつだって

いつだって is “any time” when it offers or allows something, and “always” when it describes how things are. The rest of the sentence decides which.

• いつだって遊(あそ)びに来(き)ていいよ。

• You can come over any time.

• 姉(あね)はいつだって元気(げんき)だ。
• My sister is always full of energy.

“Always” can also be a complaint, “every single time”.

• あいつはいつだって遅刻(ちこく)する。
• He’s late every single time.

With a negative, いつだって means “never”, as in いつだって暇(ひま)なんかない, “I’m never free”.

Anything with 何だって

何(なん)だって is “anything”, as in a promise like 何(なん)だってする, “I’ll do anything”, or a boast like 何(なん)だって知(し)ってる, “he knows everything”.

Watch for these lookalikes:

• なんだって？ on its own is a startled or challenging “What?!” or “What did you say?!”
• At the start of a complaint or question, なんだって can mean “why on earth”, as in なんだってこんなことに, “why on earth did it come to this?”
• At the end of a sentence, 品切(しなぎ)れなんだって is な ＋ んだって, “I hear it’s sold out”.
• Xが何(なん)だっていうんだ, often shortened to 何(なん)だってんだ, is 何(なん)だ ＋ っていう, “what does X matter?”

The whole sentence tells you which one you’re reading.

Keeping the Particle Before だって

だって replaces が and を. Other particles, such as に, と, で, and から, normally stay in front of it.

• 誰(だれ)にだって秘密(ひみつ)はある。

• Everyone has secrets.

• どこからだって見(み)える。
• You can see it from anywhere.

In casual speech, the へ or に for a destination can drop, so どこだって行(い)ける and どこへだって行(い)ける both mean “we can go anywhere”.

Any Kind with どんな〜だって

どんな, “what kind of”, takes a noun before だって. どんな敵(てき)だって is “any enemy at all”, and どんな時(とき)だって is “at any time, no matter what”. どの, “which”, works the same way, as in どの国(くに)の人(ひと)だって, “people from any country”.

• どんな時(とき)だって味方(みかた)だよ。
• I’m on your side whatever happens.

Anything Goes with 〜だっていい

Question word ＋ だっていい says that any choice is fine. 何(なん)だっていい is “anything’s fine”, 誰(だれ)だっていい is “anyone will do”, and どっちだっていい is “either one is fine”. Depending on tone, it can be easygoing or a shrug of “I don’t care”.

どうだっていい, from どう, “how”, means “it doesn’t matter” or “I don’t care”.

• そんなのどうだっていいよ。

• That doesn't matter.

• どっちだっていいよ。
• Either one is fine.

It often comes as だっていいから, “it doesn’t matter what, just…”, before a request or a wish.

• 何(なん)だっていいから食(た)べなさい。
• Just eat something, anything.

Not Even Once with 一度だって

だって after a count of one, with a negative, means “not even one”. 一度(いちど)だって is “not even once”, 一人(ひとり)だって is “not a single person”, and 一(ひと)つだって is “not a single thing”.

• 一度(いちど)だって負(ま)けたことがない。

• I’ve never lost, not even once.

• 一円(いちえん)だって払(はら)わないぞ。
• I’m not paying a single yen.

This works like 一度(いちど)も, which also takes a negative, and だって makes it sound stronger. With 〜たことがない, as in the first example, it denies any experience at all.

The negative is what makes it “not even one”. Without one, 一人(ひとり)だって平気(へいき) is “I’m fine even on my own”, the “even” だって covered on the Even with 〜だって page.

Further Reading

• だって, デジタル大辞泉 via Weblio (www.weblio.jp)

Related Grammar

• Even with 〜だって
  • After an ordinary noun, だって means "even" or "too". A count of one without a negative, as in 一人(ひとり)だって平気(へいき), "fine even on my own", belongs there.
• That said with だって
  • At the start of a sentence, だって gives a reason or an excuse.
• Even if with 〜たって
  • どんなに〜たって and いくら〜たって mean "no matter how much", the verb and adjective version of covering every case.
• Something, nothing, and anything with question words
  • The でも, も, and か forms of the same question words, such as 誰(だれ)でも, 誰(だれ)も, and 誰(だれ)か.
• Previous experience with 〜た＋ことがある
  • 一度(いちど)だって〜たことがない means "have never once done".
• Not at all with 全然〜ない
  • 全然 and 一度(いちど)だって both strengthen a negative.
• Grammar in the Kansai dialect
  • Kansai speech uses かて, as in 誰(だれ)かて.