Basic fluency: common vocabulary for familiar topics, school, and work. Every pattern below links to example sentences and the questions that test it.
35 patterns · with meanings & examples
Practice N4 grammar →| Pattern | Meaning | Qs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 〜かもしれない | The dark sky only supports a guess, so かもしれません ('it might rain') matches the speaker's … | 11 | Examples → |
| 〜くてなりません | 人前で話すのは恥ずかしくてなりません — "speaking in public is unbearably embarrassing." ★ = 恥ずかしくて. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜ことができる | Users may borrow up to five books. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜ことにしている | The speaker has made morning running a personal routine. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜しか〜ない | There is only one egg in the refrigerator. | 11 | Examples → |
| 〜すぎる | The bag is too heavy to carry. | 11 | Examples → |
| 〜そうだ（様子） | Stem + そうだ = "looks like ~" — the sky looks like it's about to rain. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜たあとで | 〜たあとで links the completed action 宿題が終わった to what follows, and 終わった is already in the ta… | 11 | Examples → |
| 〜たことがある | V-past + ことがある = "I have (once) done ~" — expressing experience. | 11 | Examples → |
| 〜たことがない | 外国へ行ったことがありません — "I have never been abroad." The negative experience form. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜たばかり | The speaker is hungry despite having just eaten. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜ために | The speaker studies Japanese in order to work in Japan. | 11 | Examples → |
| 〜たり〜たりする | Reading and watching films are examples of holiday activities. | 11 | Examples → |
| 〜つもりだ | ★ is where the clause's verb goes: 先生になる "become a teacher" supplies the dictionary for… | 10 | Examples → |
| 〜つもりです | 早く寝るつもりです — "I intend to sleep early." V-dictionary + つもり expresses a plan/intention. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜てあげる | The speaker did the favor of teaching the younger brother. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜てあげる／くれる／もらう | ★ is the final slot: あげ needs its polite ending, so ました completes 案内してあげました "guided (hi… | 10 | Examples → |
| 〜ているところ | Mother is right in the middle of making dinner. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜ておく | Reserve the hotel in advance of the trip. | 11 | Examples → |
| 〜てくださる | わざわざお店まで来てくださってありがとうございます — "thank you for coming all the way." | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜てみる | 一度食べてみたいです — "I want to try eating it once." 〜てみる = try doing; 〜たい = want to. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜ても | Even with repeated practice, the kanji is hard to remember. | 11 | Examples → |
| 〜てもいい | Vてもいい = "may I ~" — asking permission to take photos. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜ながら | The person cooks while listening to music. | 11 | Examples → |
| 〜なくてもいい | Because tomorrow is a holiday, it is unnecessary to wake early. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜なければいけません | V-ない stem + なければいけません = "must ~" — I have to sleep early tonight. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜ので／のに | 痛いので gives the headache as the reason for going to bed early — ので states a cause polite… | 10 | Examples → |
| 〜ば（条件） | The ば-conditional: "when/if spring comes, cherry blossoms bloom." | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜はずだ | ★ opens the expectation clause with its topic: 彼は道に迷わないはずです "he shouldn't get lost" — 彼… | 11 | Examples → |
| 〜やすい | This pen is easy to write with. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜やすい／にくい | The ★ slot is sentence-final, and only です can complete the polite predicate 書きやすいです. | 10 | Examples → |
| 〜ようだ | The wet ground supports the inference that it rained. | 1 | Examples → |
| 〜ように | ひかないように states the purpose of sleeping early — 〜ように after a negative verb means "so tha… | 10 | Examples → |
| 〜前に | ★ ends the sentence, and only います can complete the progressive みがいています started by the t… | 11 | Examples → |
| 〜予定だ | The family plans to travel to Kyoto next month. | 1 | Examples → |