The Complete JLPT Practice Packets

Kana also supports accurate reading. Hiragana is used for many native Japanese words and grammar endings, while katakana is often used for loanwords, such as テレビ (television) and パン (bread). Read the whole word rather than saying each symbol in isolation. For example, たべます should be read as ta-be-ma-su, with four mora, or sound units. A final “u” in ます is often very light in natural speech, but it should still be written and recognized.

A useful first routine is to read a sentence aloud, underline the action, and then explain the sentence in simple English. Try 私は毎朝コーヒーを飲みます: “I drink coffee every morning.” The key takeaway is that vocabulary, word order, and kana work together; learning them in complete sentences gives you a stronger foundation than memorizing isolated translations.

Basic Particles

Particles are short hiragana words that show how a noun functions in a sentence. They are not usually translated with one fixed English word. Instead, understand the relationship they mark. The particle は marks the topic, written は but pronounced wa in this use: 私は学生です means “I am a student.” The topic is what the sentence is about.

The particle が often marks the subject, especially when introducing or identifying something. ねこがいます means “There is a cat” or “A cat is here.” The particle を marks a direct object, the thing affected by an action: 水を飲みます means “I drink water.” Remember that を is pronounced o. The particle も means “also” or “too”: 私も学生です means “I am also a student.”

Use に for a specific time, a destination, or the place where someone or something exists. 七時に起きます means “I get up at seven.” 学校に行きます means “I go to school.” 机の上に本があります means “There is a book on the desk.” The particle へ, pronounced e, also marks direction: 日本へ行きます means “I go to Japan.” For a location where an action happens, use で: 図書館で勉強します means “I study at the library.”

The particle と can mean “and” when joining nouns, as in りんごとバナナ, “apples and bananas.” It can also mean “with” a person: 友だちと話します means “I talk with a friend.” の connects nouns and often shows possession or description: これは私のかばんです means “This is my bag.” から means “from,” and まで means “until” or “up to”: 九時から五時まで働きます means “I work from nine until five.”

Particle choice becomes clearer when you compare complete sentences. 公園でサッカーをします means “I play soccer at the park,” while 公園に行きます means “I go to the park.” The park is the location of an action in the first sentence and the destination in the second. Ask yourself what relationship you are marking: topic, object, time, destination, place, companion, or possession. That decision is more useful than trying to force a direct translation.

Verb and Adjective Forms

Japanese verbs change form to show politeness, time, and whether an action is affirmative or negative. The polite non-past form ends in ます: 食べます means “eat” or “will eat.” Its negative is 食べません, “do not eat,” and its past is 食べました, “ate.” The past negative is 食べませんでした, “did not eat.” These forms are especially useful for clear, polite beginner conversation.

The same pattern works with many verbs: 行きます (go), 行きません (do not go), 行きました (went), and 行きませんでした (did not go). 見ます follows the same pattern. Some verbs need careful attention to their dictionary form, the basic form found in a dictionary. 飲む becomes 飲みます, and 読む becomes 読みます. At N5, learn each new verb with its ます form and a short example rather than trying to guess every change immediately.

Japanese has two main adjective groups at this level. い-adjectives usually end in い, as in 大きい (big), 新しい (new), and おいしい (delicious). In a polite non-past sentence, add です: このりんごはおいしいです means “This apple is delicious.” To make an い-adjective negative, change the final い to くない: おいしくないです means “It is not delicious.” For the past, use かったです: おいしかったです means “It was delicious.” The past negative is おいしくなかったです.

な-adjectives use な before a noun and です at the end of a sentence. しずかな町 means “a quiet town,” while この町はしずかです means “This town is quiet.” Its negative is しずかではありません, and its past is しずかでした. きれい is a な-adjective even though it ends in an い sound: きれいな花 means “a beautiful flower.” Do not treat every word ending in い as an い-adjective.

A reliable practice method is to change one sentence through four time and polarity forms. For example: 毎日勉強します (I study every day), 毎日勉強しません (I do not study every day), 昨日勉強しました (I studied yesterday), and 昨日勉強しませんでした (I did not study yesterday). Then do the same with an adjective such as 忙しいです (is busy). Notice the ending, not just the English meaning. Form changes carry important information, so reading them carefully will make short passages much easier.

An N5 Kanji List

Kanji are characters that carry meaning, and N5 reading begins with common characters found in signs, schedules, names of places, and simple sentences. Learn a character with its pronunciation in furigana, its meaning, and one familiar word. Furigana is the small hiragana reading printed beside or above a kanji. It helps you read the character while you are still building memory.

The following list gives a practical N5 set. Read the example word aloud, then cover the furigana and try again.

| Kanji | Furigana and meaning | Example | |---|---|---| | 日 | ひ／にち - day, sun | 日本（にほん） - Japan | | 月 | つき／げつ - moon, month | 月曜日（げつようび） - Monday | | 火 | ひ／か - fire | 火曜日（かようび） - Tuesday | | 水 | みず／すい - water | 水曜日（すいようび） - Wednesday | | 木 | き／もく - tree, wood | 木曜日（もくようび） - Thursday | | 金 | かね／きん - money, gold | 金曜日（きんようび） - Friday | | 土 | つち／ど - earth, soil | 土曜日（どようび） - Saturday | | 人 | ひと／じん - person | 日本人（にほんじん） - Japanese person | | 子 | こ／し - child | 子ども（こども） - child | | 女 | おんな／じょ - woman | 女の人（おんなのひと） - woman | | 男 | おとこ／だん - man | 男の人（おとこのひと） - man | | 学 | がく／まなぶ - study, learning | 学生（がくせい） - student | | 校 | こう - school | 学校（がっこう） - school | | 先 | さき／せん - ahead, previous | 先生（せんせい） - teacher | | 生 | せい／いきる - life, be born | 学生（がくせい） - student | | 年 | とし／ねん - year | 来年（らいねん） - next year | | 時 | とき／じ - time, hour | 時間（じかん） - time | | 上 | うえ／じょう - above, up | 上（うえ） - above | | 下 | した／か - below, down | 下（した） - below | | 中 | なか／ちゅう - inside, middle | 中（なか） - inside | | 大 | おおきい／だい - big | 大学（だいがく） - university | | 小 | ちいさい／しょう - small | 小さい（ちいさい） - small | | 本 | ほん／もと - book, origin | 本（ほん） - book | | 名 | な／めい - name | 名前（なまえ） - name | | 前 | まえ／ぜん - front, before | 前（まえ） - front | | 後 | うしろ／ご - behind, after | 後ろ（うしろ） - behind | | 行 | いく／こう - go | 行きます（いきます） - go | | 来 | くる／らい - come | 来ます（きます） - come | | 食 | たべる／しょく - eat, food | 食べます（たべます） - eat | | 見 | みる／けん - see, look | 見ます（みます） - see |

Some characters have more than one reading. The correct reading depends on the word around it. 生 is read せい in 学生, but it is read い in 生きる, “to live.” Do not try to memorize every possible reading at once. Start with the reading used in your N5 vocabulary, and add another only when you meet it in a new word.

To practice, write the kanji once while saying its meaning, read the example word three times, and then use that word in a sentence. For instance, 学校へ行きます means “I go to school,” and 水を飲みます means “I drink water.” Finish by checking whether the kanji, furigana, particle, and verb form all match. When these small pieces work together, a beginner sentence stops looking like a row of symbols and starts reading like a message.

End of chapter one. 4 more chapters and about 7,890 words in the full book.