As you may be aware, onomatopoeia is quite common in Japanese. We looked at a lot of these in lessons 143 and 249.

In this lesson, though, I only want to talk about a handful of them.

Well, sort of...

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Is it どんどん or だんだん？

I recently got an email from a reader saying that he kept mixing these two phrases up. I actually used to do the same thing earlier in my Japanese studies, so I thought that we could try to separate the two words once and for all!

どんどん means something like "rapidly."

だんだん, however, means something like "gradually" or "bit by bit."

Examples:

遠慮しないで、どんどん食べて。
えんりょ　しないで、　どんどん　たべて。
Don’t hold back. Dig in.
Literally: “reserve / constraint + don’t do (and), + rapidly + eat (and).”

だんだん寒くなってきたね。
だんだん　さむく　なって　きた　ね。
It's gotten colder little by little, hasn’t it?
Literally: “gradually / bit by bit + cold + become (and) + came + ね.”

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I have an easy way to remember the difference between どんどん and だんだん.

Do you know the following kanji?

段

This character means "grade" or "step." If you're an avid NDL reader, you've already seen this kanji in all of these words:

階段（かいだん // stairs; stairway）
値段（ねだん // price）
普段（ふだん // usual; ordinary）

...in sentences like these:

この値段税込みですか？
この　ねだん　ぜいこみ　です　か？
Is tax included in this price?
Literally: “this + price + tax-included + is + ka?”

階段を下りた。
かいだん　を　おりた。
He went down the stairs.
Literally: “stairs + を + went down.”

わたしは普段、化粧をしないで仕事に行きます。
わたし　は　ふだん、　けしょう　を　しないで　しごと　に　いきます。
Usually I go to work without doing my makeup.
Literally: “I + は + usual(ly), + makeup + を + don’t do (and) + job / work + に + go.”

We've actually seen 値段 (ねだん) eight different times now, but I'm not going to list every sentence here. ^^

Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. My point is, since 段 means "step" or "grade," and since its reading tends to be だん, we can remember that だんだん is "by steps." That is, だんだん means "gradually" or "little by little."

Wait. So, is 段 the kanji used to write だんだん？

Well, technically, yes. It could be written 段々 (the character 々 is used for repeating a kanji). This is because, strictly speaking, だんだん does not actually qualify as "onomatopoeia." Oops.

However, you are very, very unlikely to every see だんだん written in kanji, so don't write it this way!

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So what about どんどん？

Well, one reason that we can remember that this means "rapidly" is that the sound どん or ど often signifies something intense.

Consider, for example, the word ドカーン！

Know what this word means? Here's a hint:

Yeah, ドカーン means something like "boom."

ドカーン！！！！―　あ、花火始まった。
ドカーン！！！！―　あ、　はなび　はじまった。
BOOM!!!! ― Ah, the fireworks have started.
Literally: “BOOM!!!! + ―ah, + fireworks + started.”

Similarly, in addition to meaning "rapidly," the word どんどん can refer to a drumming sound. Consider the following example (in which it's written in katakana):

誰かが玄関のドアをドンドンと叩いている。
だれか　が　げんかん　の　ドア　を　ドンドン　と　たたいている。
Someone is pounding on the front door.
Literally: “someone + が + (Japanese) entryway + の + door + を + drumming (noise) + と + striking / playing (drums).”

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That's all for this one.

Oh, and if your Japanese is progressing at だんだん speed, I wouldn't feel too bad about it. Even if you seem to be surrounded by people getting どんどん skilled. ^^