〜なんて
Formation
Meaning
Used to express surprise, disbelief, or strong emotion when encountering an unexpected fact, either heard or seen.
Note
Primarily used in spoken Japanese to highlight a piece of information that the speaker finds unexpected or hard to believe. It often carries a nuance of 'I can't believe that...' or 'The fact that...'. In written Japanese, '〜とは' is used for a similar purpose.
Examples
合格したなんて信じられない！
I can't believe I passed!
こんなところで会うなんて、驚きました。
I was surprised to meet you in a place like this.
こんなに美味しいなんて、思わなかった。
I didn't think it would be this delicious.
テストが難しいなんて、聞いていなかったよ。
I hadn't heard that the test would be difficult.
彼女がそんなに有名だなんて、知らなかった。
I didn't know she was that famous.
料理がこんなに大変だなんて、やってみるまでわからなかった。
I didn't realize that cooking was this much work until I tried it.
あなたが犯人だなんて、信じたくない。
I don't want to believe that you are the culprit.
嘘だなんて、言わないでください。
Please don't tell me it's a lie.