Characters and Vocabulary

1. Learning hiragana and katakana by sound

Don't memorize the gojūon chart as a table. Learn it as a combination of rows (あかさたな) and columns (あいうえお), and you can organize dakuten, handakuten, and contracted sounds all at once.

The 46 hiragana are combinations of 10 rows (あ・か・さ・た・な・は・ま・や・ら・わ) and 5 columns (あ・い・う・え・お). If you remember characters by position (for example, 「き」 is the い column of the か row), dictionary order (あいうえお order) also comes naturally. At N5, the answer choices in vocabulary questions are lined up in hiragana, so being able to find them in あいうえお order saves time.

Dakuten (゛) attaches to four rows: か・さ・た・は (が・ざ・だ・ば). Handakuten (゜) attaches only to the は row (ぱ). Learn this “4 rows + 1 row” first and you halve the number of characters to remember. Contracted sounds (きゃ・きゅ・きょ) are an い-column character with a small や・ゆ・よ added. Practice pronouncing 「きゃ」 as one sound, not as two sounds, 「き」 + 「や」.

Katakana is used for loanwords, foreign place and personal names, and sound-imitating words. N5 vocabulary questions include everyday loanwords such as 「テレビ」「コーヒー」「レストラン」. Katakana characters with similar shapes (シ・ツ, ソ・ン, ク・ケ) are easy to confuse, so tell them apart by stroke order (the direction of the strokes). Remember that ツ is written from top to bottom and シ from left to right, and you won't mix them up.

Long vowels (ー) and the small っ (sokuon) are frequent points at N5. A single character changes the meaning, as in 「おばさん」 and 「おばあさん」, or 「きて」 and 「きって」. Character questions appear in the form “Which is the correct way to write it?”, so practice by linking the feeling of lengthening or cutting off a sound to the written characters.

How it is tested: In character questions (kanji reading and orthography), you choose the correct reading or the correct way to write a word from hiragana answer choices. The time limit is short, so aim for 10 seconds per question and practice moving on when you are unsure.

Terms

五十音 (gojūon)

The basic chart of hiragana and katakana sounds. Organized by rows and columns

濁点・半濁点 (dakuten / handakuten)

「゛」 and 「゜」. They make the sounds が・ざ・だ・ば and ぱ

拗音 (yōon, contracted sounds)

One sound that uses a small や・ゆ・よ, such as きゃ・きゅ・きょ

長音 (chōon, long vowel)

Lengthens a sound. In katakana it is 「ー」; in hiragana you add a vowel (おかあさん)

促音 (sokuon, small っ)

The small 「っ」. It cuts off the next sound (きって)

Examples

Source: JLPT official website, “N1–N5: Summary of Linguistic Competence Required for Each Level” / “Sample Questions”

2. 100 N5 kanji: learning them by meaning groups

About 100 kanji appear at N5. Divide them into groups (numbers, days of the week, directions, family, time, body, and nature) and you can learn about 10 per group.

N5 kanji are all ones you see every day. Numbers (一〜十, 百, 千, 万, 円), days and time (日・月・火・水・木・金・土・年・時・分・半・今・毎・週・午前・午後), direction and place (上・下・左・右・中・外・前・後・東・西・南・北・駅・店・道), people and family (人・男・女・子・父・母・友・名・先生), actions (行・来・見・聞・話・読・書・食・飲・買・立・休), nature (山・川・天・気・雨・花・空・海), and size and description (大・小・高・安・新・古・多・少・長・白・黒).

Kanji have 「音読み」 (on'yomi, the Chinese-derived reading) and 「訓読み」 (kun'yomi, the native Japanese reading). At N5, both words read with the kun'yomi (山＝やま, 水＝みず) and compounds read with the on'yomi (学校＝がっこう, 電話＝でんわ) appear. That one kanji can have several readings is what makes Japanese hard, but within the N5 range the “commonly used readings” are enough. 「日」 is a typical kanji with many readings (ひ・にち・び・か and others); learn it in words, such as 「日曜日（にちようび）」 and 「三日（みっか）」.

There are no writing questions. N5 character questions are multiple-choice questions on “reading” and “orthography (which kanji is it).” So you don't need to be able to write them; being able to read them when you see them is enough. Learn reading first.

Memory tips: ① group characters that share the same radical (日・月・明, 木・林・森); ② learn opposites in pairs (上下・左右・前後・大小・高安・新古・多少); ③ treat the days 月火水木金土日 like one song. Just looking at 10 characters three times a day until the exam will make 100 kanji stick in a month.

How it is tested: two formats: “kanji reading,” choosing the reading of a kanji in a sentence, and “orthography,” choosing the kanji that fits a hiragana word. In orthography questions, similar-looking kanji (土・士, 右・石, 休・体) are lined up in the answer choices.

Terms

音読み (on'yomi)

The reading derived from Chinese. Used in compounds (学校＝がっこう)

訓読み (kun'yomi)

The original Japanese reading. Used when the kanji stands alone (山＝やま)

部首 (bushu, radical)

A component part of a kanji. Learn characters that share a radical together

Examples

Source: JLPT official website, “N1–N5: Summary of Linguistic Competence Required for Each Level” / “Sample Questions”

3. 800 N5 words: learning them by everyday situation

N5 vocabulary is about 800 words. Divide it into 7 situations (classroom, home, shopping, meals, transportation, time, and weather) and learn nouns, verbs, and adjectives together as a set.

N5 vocabulary questions come in two formats: choosing the word that fits a blank in a sentence from four options (contextually defined expressions, 文脈規定), and choosing a paraphrase with the same meaning (paraphrases and synonyms, 言い換え類義). Learning words as “situation + verb,” rather than one by one, prepares you for both.

Classroom: 先生・学生・本・ノート・鉛筆・机・椅子・宿題 / 読む・書く・聞く・話す・分かる・覚える. Home: 部屋・台所・お風呂・トイレ・窓・ドア・家族 / 起きる・寝る・食べる・飲む・掃除する・洗濯する. Shopping: 店・スーパー・コンビニ・お金・財布・値段・高い・安い / 買う・売る・払う・もらう・くださる.

Meals: ご飯・パン・肉・魚・野菜・果物・水・お茶・コーヒー・牛乳 / おいしい・まずい・甘い・辛い. Transportation: 駅・電車・バス・タクシー・自転車・道・橋・信号 / 乗る・降りる・歩く・走る・曲がる・止まる・渡る. Time: 朝・昼・夜・今日・明日・昨日・毎日・週末・時間・分 / 早い・遅い・忙しい・暇. Weather: 晴れ・雨・雪・風・暑い・寒い・涼しい・暖かい.

Paraphrase tips: The paraphrases tested at N5 are limited. Learn them together with their opposites, such as 「お父さんとお母さん＝両親」 (father and mother = parents), 「勉強します＝習います」 (study = learn), 「おいしくないです＝まずいです」 (not delicious = tastes bad), 「賑やか＝人が多くて元気」 (lively = many people and energetic), and 「つまらない＝面白くない」 (boring = not interesting), and it becomes easier to eliminate answer choices.

Pairs of native Japanese words and loanwords are also targeted: 「食堂／レストラン」 (dining hall / restaurant), 「写真機／カメラ」 (camera), 「便所／トイレ」 (toilet). In daily life the katakana words are used more often, so know both. How it is tested: contextually defined expression questions read 「（　）に入れるのに いちばん いい ものを 1・2・3・4から えらんでください」 (“Choose the best word to put in the blank from 1, 2, 3, and 4”). Make a habit of reading the whole sentence before looking at the blank.

Terms

文脈規定 (contextually defined expressions)

Questions where you choose the word that fits the meaning of the sentence

言い換え類義 (paraphrases and synonyms)

Questions where you choose a different way of saying the same thing

和語 (wago, native Japanese words)

Words native to Japanese (食堂)

外来語 (gairaigo, loanwords)

Katakana words derived from foreign languages (レストラン)

Examples

Source: JLPT official website, “N1–N5: Summary of Linguistic Competence Required for Each Level” / “Sample Questions”

4. Counters and ways to say the time

Counters such as 〜つ・〜人・〜本・〜枚・〜匹, plus clock times, dates, and periods of time. They always appear in both N5 vocabulary and listening, so learn the sound changes too (いっぽん・さんぼん).

In Japanese, the way of counting changes with the shape of what you count (counters, 助数詞). What you need at N5 is: 〜つ (ひとつ・ふたつ・みっつ… とお), 〜人 (ひとり・ふたり・さんにん), 〜本 (long, thin things), 〜枚 (thin, flat things), 〜匹 (small animals), 〜台 (machines, vehicles), 〜冊 (books), 〜杯 (drinks), 〜個 (small things), 〜回 (number of times), and 〜歳 (age).

Sound changes are the N5 pitfall. 「本」: いっぽん・にほん・さんぼん・よんほん・ごほん・ろっぽん・ななほん・はっぽん・きゅうほん・じゅっぽん. 「杯」: いっぱい・にはい・さんばい. 「匹」: いっぴき・にひき・さんびき. Remember that the sound changes at 1, 3, 6, 8, and 10. In listening, you pick up the number from this difference in sound.

Clock time: 〜時 (いちじ・にじ… よじ・しちじ・くじ), 〜分 (いっぷん・にふん・さんぷん・よんぷん・ごふん・ろっぷん・ななふん・はっぷん・きゅうふん・じゅっぷん), and 半 (はん). 「四時（よじ）」, 「七時（しちじ）」, and 「九時（くじ）」 are exceptional readings, so be sure to learn them.

Dates: 一日（ついたち）・二日（ふつか）・三日（みっか）・四日（よっか）・五日（いつか）・六日（むいか）・七日（なのか）・八日（ようか）・九日（ここのか）・十日（とおか）・十四日（じゅうよっか）・二十日（はつか）・二十四日（にじゅうよっか）. All the others are 「〜にち」. Months are 「〜がつ」, and 四月（しがつ）, 七月（しちがつ）, and 九月（くがつ） are the exceptions.

Periods of time: 〜時間・〜分間・〜日間・〜週間・〜か月・〜年. The key point is that the reading changes: 「一日（いちにち）」 is a period (one day), while 「一日（ついたち）」 is a date (the 1st). How it is tested: in vocabulary, as questions where you choose the correct counter; in listening, as questions where you catch 「何時に」 (at what time), 「何人で」 (how many people), and 「いくつ」 (how many).

Terms

助数詞 (josūshi, counter)

A word attached after a number to count things

音便 (onbin, sound change)

The phenomenon where the sound changes at 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, and so on

Examples

Source: JLPT official website, “N1–N5: Summary of Linguistic Competence Required for Each Level” / “Sample Questions”

Practice: solve this chapter's questions

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