JLPT N5
Study N5 grammar and vocabulary.
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Arimasu vs Imasu: Existence, Location, and に vs で
Use あります to describe ordinary objects and plants, and います for people and animals in the basic existence pattern. 木があります is therefore normal even though a tree is alive.
Japanese Te-Form: Conjugation Table, Uses, and Practice
The te-form connects a verb to another action or to an ending such as ください. It is not a past ending. First identify the verb group, then apply its sound change.
Japanese Verb Groups: Godan, Ichidan, and Irregular Verbs
Learn a verb’s group alongside its dictionary form. 食べる and 帰る both end in る, but 食べる becomes 食べます while 帰る becomes 帰ります. The group tells you which change to make.
Japanese Masu Form: Polite Present, Negative, and Past
Use ます to make a verb polite, then choose an ending for the time and whether the statement is positive or negative. 明日行きます is a future plan; 毎日行きます is a habit. Neither needs a separate future ending.
Japanese Nai Form: Verb Negatives and Exceptions
To say that an action does not happen, form the plain negative from the verb’s dictionary form. 買う becomes 買わない, not 買あない. Check the group before changing a verb ending in る.
Japanese Ta Form: Plain Past Conjugation
The ta-form is the plain affirmative past: 食べた means ate, and 行った means went. The final sound changes follow the same groups as the te-form, with た replacing て and だ replacing で.
Plain and Polite Japanese: Forms, Tense, and Context
Plain and polite forms can describe the same event. 行った and 行きました both refer to going in the past. Changing politeness should not accidentally change the sentence’s time or turn a negative into a positive.
Te Iru: Ongoing Actions, Resulting States, and Habits
ている does not always mean “is doing.” Depending on the verb and context, it can describe an action in progress, a state left by a change, or a repeated activity. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Te Kara: Do One Action Before the Next
Use てから to make one action the starting point for another: finish the first, then do the second. The final predicate gives the sentence its tense. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Tari Tari Suru: Give Examples of Activities
たり lists representative actions rather than promising a complete list or a fixed order. It is useful for describing a weekend or giving examples of what you do. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ta Koto Ga Aru: Talk About Experience
Use a た-form verb with ことがある to say that an experience has occurred at least once before the reference time. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Koto Ga Dekiru: Say What Is Possible
A dictionary-form verb followed by ことができる presents an action as possible. It can describe ability or what a place or situation allows. Practise with 10 explained questions.
〜があります
〜があります (ga arimasu) means that a thing, place, or non-living noun exists. It is often translated as there is or there are.
Desu and Da: Noun Sentences, Negatives, and Past
Use です or だ to say what something is or to give a noun description. 本です identifies something as a book; 本があります says a book exists. These statements answer different questions.
Te Kudasai: Japanese Requests, Formation, and Practice
Make polite action requests, identify who should act, compare permission and item requests, and practise six questions.
Japanese I-Adjectives: Negative and Past Forms
An i-adjective changes its own final い for negatives and past statements. 高い becomes 高くない or 高かった. Adding です makes the resulting sentence polite; it does not replace the adjective’s conjugation.
Japanese Na-Adjectives: Na, Da, and Conjugation
A na-adjective uses な directly before a noun: 静かな部屋. At the end of a polite sentence it uses です without な: 部屋は静かです. Keep these two positions separate.
Put Japanese Adjectives Before Nouns
Build the whole noun phrase before adding its particle. 新しい本を means the new book as an object; 静かな部屋で means in a quiet room as the place of an activity.
Ku and Ni: Use Adjectives to Describe Actions
To say how an action happens, use the adverbial form of an adjective. I-adjectives change final い to く; na-adjectives use に. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Kute and De: Connect Japanese Descriptions
To link descriptions, use くて for an i-adjective and で for a na-adjective or noun. The last predicate supplies the final tense and politeness. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ku Naru and Ni Naru: Describe a Change
なる describes becoming or changing into a state. Use くなる with an i-adjective and になる with a na-adjective or noun. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Yori and Hou Ga: Compare Two Things
In a comparison, より marks the reference point and ほう identifies the side being highlighted. Read the whole structure before choosing which thing is larger, cheaper, or preferred. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ichiban: Say Which Is the Most Within a Group
いちばん highlights the highest degree within a relevant set. Name that set with a phrase such as この中で or 果物の中で so the comparison is useful. Practise with 10 explained questions.
〜がいます
〜がいます (ga imasu) means that a person or animal exists somewhere. It is used for living beings such as teachers, friends, dogs, and cats.
Kore, Sore, Are, and Dore: Point to Things
これ, それ and あれ stand in for things. In a face-to-face situation, choose according to where the thing is relative to the speaker and listener, not who owns it.
Naide Kudasai: Please Don’t, Negative Forms, and Practice
Build negative requests for each verb group and distinguish ‘please do not’ from prohibition and no obligation.
Kono, Sono, Ano, and Dono: Point with a Noun
Use この, その or あの immediately before a noun. この本 is this book; これ is this one. The choice involves both position and whether you name the object.
Koko, Soko, Asoko, and Doko: Point to Places
ここ, そこ and あそこ refer to places. どこ asks where. After selecting the place word, choose a particle according to what the rest of the sentence says.
Nani or Nan: Read and Use 何 in Questions
何 has more than one reading. Learn common combinations such as 何ですか, 何時, and 何を rather than trying to pronounce every written 何 in the same way. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Dare, Donata, and Dare No: Ask Who and Whose
だれ asks who a person is; だれの asks who owns or is associated with something. どなた is a more polite alternative to だれ in many identity questions. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Itsu, Nanji, and Nanyoubi: Ask About Time
Choose the time question before choosing an answer. いつ asks broadly when, 何時 asks a clock time, and 何曜日 asks a weekday. An answer can contain a correct number yet answer the wrong question.
Ikutsu and Nansai: Ask How Many and How Old
いくつ can ask how many things or, with the right context, how old someone is. 何歳 asks age more explicitly. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Japanese Counters: Ko, Hon, Mai, and Nin
Japanese commonly pairs a number with a counter suited to what is counted. Learn the object category and the spoken number together. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Japanese Frequency: Mainichi, Yoku, and Shuu Ni Nankai
Frequency expressions tell you how often an activity happens. Some are approximate, such as よく and ときどき; others give a count within a period, such as 週に三回. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Question Words with Ka and Mo: Something, Someone, and Nothing
A question word changes meaning when followed by か or by も with a negative predicate. だれか means someone; だれも来ません means no one is coming. Read the whole expression, including the ending.
〜は〜にあります
〜は〜にあります is used to say where a known thing, building, or place is located. It often translates as is at or is in.
Te Mo Ii: Asking Permission, Replies, and Practice
Form permission questions, compare who acts, understand refusal and conversational ていい, and practise six questions.
To: List Nouns and Say Who You Act With
と can join nouns into a list or mark a companion in an action. 本とノート names two items; 友だちと行く says who goes with someone. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ya and Nado: Give Examples in a Noun List
や links representative items: 本やノート means books, notebooks, and similar things. など can make the “and so on” meaning explicit. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Kara and Made: Starting and Ending Points
から marks a starting point and まで marks an endpoint. They work with times and places: 九時から五時まで, 家から駅まで. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ka: Ask Questions and Offer Alternatives
か can mark a polite question at the end of a sentence or connect alternatives inside it. 学生ですか asks a question; お茶か水 names a choice between tea and water. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ne and Yo: Shared Information and New Information
Sentence-final ね and よ help show how you relate the message to the listener. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Kara for Reasons: Explain Why
Reason から follows a proposition and connects it to a result, decision, or request. In 雨ですから、行きません, rain is the reason for not going. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ga and Kedo: Contrast and Conversation Openings
が and けど can connect contrasting ideas, but they also introduce background before a question or request. 日本語を勉強していますが、質問があります does not need a strong “but” contrast. Practise with 10 explained questions.
〜は〜にいます
〜は〜にいます is used to say where a known person or animal is. It is the living-being version of the location pattern.
Masen Ka: Invite Someone to Do Something
A polite negative question can function as an invitation: 一緒に食べませんか. The speaker is proposing an activity, not merely stating that it will not happen. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Te Wa Ikenai: Prohibition, Requests, and No Obligation
State a prohibition, compare negative requests and no obligation, recognise ちゃ・じゃ, and practise six explained questions.
Mashou and Mashou Ka: Suggestions and Offers
ましょう suggests doing something, often together. ましょうか can offer the speaker’s help or ask about a proposed joint action. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Masu-Stem Ni Iku: Go Somewhere to Do Something
The ます-stem followed by に and a movement verb states the purpose of a trip: 本を買いに行きます. A destination can also appear with に or へ. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Mae Ni and Ato De: Before and After an Action
前に and 後で locate one action relative to another. The verb attachment changes: 食べる前に but 食べた後で. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Toki: Say When an Action or State Applies
とき turns a description into a time setting: 日本に行くとき, 子どものとき. The form before とき matters. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ageru, Kureru, and Morau: Giving and Receiving
Giving and receiving verbs encode viewpoint as well as transfer. Practise with 10 explained questions.
場所に〜があります／います
場所に〜があります／います is used to say that something or someone exists in a place. The place comes first, followed by に.
〜はどこにありますか／いますか
〜はどこにありますか／いますか is used to ask where something, someone, or an animal is. Use ありますか for things and いますか for people or animals.
Japanese Position Words: No Ue, Shita, Naka, and More
Use の to connect a reference object to a position: 机の上, 椅子の下, 駅の前. Then add the particle needed for existence, movement or an activity.
Wa vs Ga: Topic, Subject, Contrast, and Practice
Use context to choose between は and が. は establishes what you are talking about or sets up a contrast. が can identify the person or thing that supplies the answer. Translating both as the English subject hides this difference.
The Japanese Particle を: Objects, Contrasts, and Practice
を often marks what an action acts on: 本を読みます and 水を飲みます. It also marks routes and places left behind with some movement verbs, so translating every を phrase as a direct object is too narrow.
に
に (ni) points to a specific time, destination, location of existence, or person related to an action. It is one of the most important N5 particles.
で
で (de) marks where an action happens or what means, tool, or language is used. It is different from に, which often marks existence or destination.
Ni vs De: Location, Destination, Time, and Means
Look at the role of the phrase, not just its English translation. に can mark where someone is, a destination or a time. で can mark where an activity happens or the means used to do it.
Ni vs E: Japanese Destination Particles Explained
Compare に and へ with movement verbs, learn where they are not interchangeable, and practise six context-based questions.
の
の (no) connects nouns. It is used for possession, belonging, origin, category, and simple noun descriptions.
も
も (mo) means also or too. It replaces particles such as は, が, or を when adding another person or thing to the same statement.
Japanese Tai Form: Wants, Negatives, Past Forms, and Practice
Form たい from the ます-stem, change its tense and negative, compare ほしい, and practise six explained questions.
〜がほしい
〜がほしい (ga hoshii) means that you want something. It is used for nouns, not for actions.