What it means
だに is a literary, emphatic form meaning “even” or “just.” It highlights an extreme minimum or a thought so remote that it is not entertained, and it commonly appears with negative expressions such as だにしない or だに思わない. It can also mean “merely upon” or “even when,” especially after a verb in the dictionary form. The construction is strongly formal and is most natural in written language, serious commentary, and fixed expressions.
Usage note
だに is not a neutral replacement for ordinary conversational expressions such as さえ or すら. With a noun, it often forms a set phrase followed by a negative predicate, while with a dictionary-form verb it can describe a reaction caused merely by performing or imagining that action.
How to use it
その結果は想像だにしませんでした。
I did not even imagine that result.
彼の忠告を聞くだに、危険を感じました。
Even upon hearing his advice, I felt the danger.
その結果は想像だにしなかった。
I did not even imagine that result.
彼の忠告を聞くだに、危険を感じた。
Even upon hearing his advice, I felt the danger.
Example sentences
被災地の映像を見た私は、そこで暮らす人々の苦労を想像だにできなかった。
When I saw footage of the disaster area, I could not even imagine the hardships of the people living there.
その古文書に触れることだに、研究者には許されなかった。
Even touching that old document was not permitted to the researchers.
当時の私は、