いかなる
いかなる
pre-noun adjectival
what kind of; whatever; any; no matter what
1.
what kind of; what sort of
A formal way to ask about the nature or type of something. Used in questions.
いかなる理由があるのか。
What kind of reason could there be?
いかなる手段を使ってでも成功させる。
I will make it succeed by whatever means necessary.
これはいかなる意味を持つのだろうか。
What kind of meaning could this have?
2.
whatever; any; no matter what
Used to emphasize that something applies regardless of the type or circumstances. Common in formal declarations and legal/official language.
いかなる場合も返金はできません。
No refunds are possible under any circumstances.
いかなる困難にも負けない。
I will not yield to any difficulty.
いかなる理由であっても、暴力は許されない。
Violence is not permitted for any reason whatsoever.
A formal/literary prenominal adjective (連体詞) that always appears before a noun. Derived from いかなり, the 連体形 of the classical adjective いかなり (how; what manner).
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- いかなる場合も — under any circumstances
- いかなる理由であっても — for whatever reason
- いかなる困難にも — against any difficulty
- いかなる状況でも — in any situation
USAGE:
Appears frequently in legal documents, formal speeches, rules and regulations, and literary prose. In sense 2, often paired with も to create a 'no matter what' construction (いかなる〜も). Too formal for casual conversation — use どんな instead in everyday speech.
SIMILAR WORDS:
- どんな — what kind of; any (casual everyday equivalent)
- いかに — how; to what extent (adverb, not prenominal)
- どのような — what kind of (polite but less formal than いかなる)