Difference between 何の～ and どんな～


Consider the following:

  1. {どんな・[何]{なん}の}映画を見ましたか。
  2. {どんな・何の}本を買いましたか。

What is the difference in the type of information requested by the two
interrogatives?

My hypothesis is that 何の is used to request information from pool of discrete
data, while どんな requests information from continuous data. (どんな is broader
than 何の)

That is to say that 何のX requests information from a set of established data; X
has been categorised into discrete genres and it asks for which, while どんなX
seems to be more open-ended.




If you were to ask me 何の映画を見ました, I would respond with the name of the movie.
If you were to use どんな, I would respond with a description of the movie. In
the broadest terms it's the difference between "which/what" and "what kind
of." 何の is asking for something specific where どんな is asking for a
description.




If you were to ask me 何の映画を見ました, I would respond with the name of the movie.
If you were to use どんな, I would respond with a description of the movie. In
the broadest terms it's the difference between "which/what" and "what kind
of." 何の is asking for something specific where どんな is asking for a
description.

