Difference between そういう and そんな


Are そういう and そんな completely interchangeable? Is there any difference in nuance
or meaning, or contexts where one is more appropriate than the other?




Most of the time they are interchangeable because their meanings are almost
identical. The only notable difference is that in cases where the speaker is
expressing negative feelings and wants to emphasize them, 「そんな」 is more
appropriate, because it is more emphatic than 「そういう」. For example:

「そんなダメな人は気にしないで！」

「そんなことはない！」

In those sentences, if you replaced そんな with そういう, they would be less
emphatic. Of course, sometimes this might not be true because you can make
them sound aggressive purely through intonation, however, it wouldn't "ring"
the same.




Most of the time they are interchangeable because their meanings are almost
identical. The only notable difference is that in cases where the speaker is
expressing negative feelings and wants to emphasize them, 「そんな」 is more
appropriate, because it is more emphatic than 「そういう」. For example:

「そんなダメな人は気にしないで！」

「そんなことはない！」

In those sentences, if you replaced そんな with そういう, they would be less
emphatic. Of course, sometimes this might not be true because you can make
them sound aggressive purely through intonation, however, it wouldn't "ring"
the same.

