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どの要求にも当てはまらないような気がした
He felt as though none of the requirements applied (to him)

I can't find anything that discusses the pattern "question word + noun + にも" as in the bold part of the above sentence.

My best guess is that this is like the noun equivalent of 何を食べても (no matter what he eats). In this case どの要求にも is "no matter what the requirement". So the literal translation of my sentence would be "He felt as though, no matter what the requirement, it did not apply (to him)".

Is my analysis correct? Are there any other similar patterns that express the same idea?

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    に is there only because 当てはまる requires it just like "to apply" requires "to". In that sense it's not much different from どこにも行かない.
    – aguijonazo
    Jul 22 at 16:44

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Do you understand 何もない ("there is nothing"), 何も食べない ("I eat nothing"), 誰もいない ("there is no one") and so on? Then this pattern is the same except that a case particle is inserted. は and を are replaced by も to say nothing/nowhere/etc, but other particles are followed by も.

  • 東京へ行く。
    東京に行く。
    I will go to Tokyo.
  • どこへも行かない。
    どこにも行かない。
    I will go to nowhere.
  • 上司から指図を受ける。
    I take orders from my boss.
  • 誰からも指図を受けない。
    I take orders from no one.
  • 漫画に興味がある。
    I am interested in manga.
  • 何にも興味がない。
    I am interested in nothing.
  • どれにも興味がない。
    I am interested in none of them.
  • その要求に当てはまる。
    It applies to that request.
  • どの要求にも当てはまらない。
    It applies to none of the requests.
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  • Yes, I'm familiar with your example patterns, I've just never come across one that had both a noun and a question word together before. Looking at your list I still think my way of thinking about it works logically, apart from my mistake of including に as part of the pattern when it actually pairs with 当てはまる.
    – user3856370
    Jul 22 at 16:53
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Your translation is on point.

どの要求も

I will try to explain why it means "whatever ...".

に is the direction particle (for 当てはまる), so I will exclude it from the explanation.

も is the inclusive particle (it includes all possible cases)

どの要求も -> どの要求 (an indefinite requirement) + も (including all possibilities) -> Including all requirements -> Any requirement / whatever requirement / no matter the requirement / every requirement

As for 何を食べても, I don't think they are equivalents. Because the も particle encloses 何を食べて which is not a noun (どの要求). So も works the same way but including all possibilities of 何を食べて. In this case, the も doesn't add the meaning of "everything" or "anything" to 何 as it does to 要求. So the translation would be "No matter what (single thing) you eat...".

This is important because your original sentence may also be translated as "He felt as though all of the requirements didn't apply (to him)" which is the most literal translation I can think about. But in 何を食べても the idea is that "Whatever thing you eat (an indefinite thing, a single one), ...", but not "Even if a eat everything...".

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