N2 Grammar · Test 37

The pattern 「〜ば〜ほど」 means 'the more..., the more...'. The structure requires the same verb in ば-form and dictionary form: 勉強すればするほど = 'the more I study, the more...'. So the blank must be する (dictionary form of する).

• 1「した」is the past tense. The 〜ば〜ほど pattern requires the dictionary form after ほど, not the past tense.
• 3「して」is the te-form. It cannot follow ほど in this pattern.
• 4「すれ」is the provisional/ば-form stem of する, but the blank is after すれば, so we need the dictionary form する, not another ば-form.

• 〜ば〜ほど — the more..., the more...

The pattern 「〜さえ〜ば」 means 'as long as ~ / if only ~'. 「天気さえよければ」= 'As long as the weather is good, it will be a good trip.' さえ marks the one sufficient condition, and よければ is the ば-form of いい/よい.

• 2「すら」means 'even' (similar to さえ but more literary/negative-leaning). It does not pair with 〜ば to form the 'as long as' conditional pattern.
• 3「しか」means 'only' and must be followed by a negative verb (〜しか〜ない). It cannot form the 〜ば conditional here.
• 4「ばかり」means 'only/just' or 'about to'. It does not pair with 〜ば to mean 'as long as'.

• 〜さえ〜ば — as long as ~, if only ~

The pattern 「V-てはじめて」 means 'only after doing V did I first realize/experience...'. 「読んでみてはじめて...知った」= 'Only after actually trying to read it myself did I come to know the interestingness of the classics.' はじめて is an adverb meaning 'for the first time', and it follows the te-form of the verb.

• 1「はじめ」is the stem (連用形) of はじめる, meaning 'beginning'. It does not work as the adverb 'for the first time' needed here.
• 2「はじめで」is not a grammatical form used in this pattern. で would mark a means/scope, which is irrelevant here.
• 4「はじめると」is the dictionary form + と (conditional). It does not fit the V-てはじめて pattern and would be ungrammatical after 読んでみて.

• 〜てはじめて — only after doing ~ (did one first realize/experience...)

The pattern 「V辞書形かVない形かのうちに」 means 'just as ~ is about to happen / right when ~ is or isn't happening'. 「終わるか終わらないかのうちに」= 'just as the lecture is ending or not yet ending (i.e., right when it's about to end)'. The pattern requires the negative form 終わらない to pair with 終わる.

• 1「終わる」would give 終わるか終わるか, which is redundant and ungrammatical in this pattern. The pattern needs a contrast between affirmative and negative.
• 3「終わっている」is the progressive/resultative form. The pattern uses V辞書形 and Vない形, not ている forms.
• 4「終わっていない」is the negative of ている. Again, the pattern requires the simple negative 終わらない, not 終わっていない.

• 〜か〜かのうちに — just as ~ is about to / right when ~ (with V辞書 and Vない)

The pattern 「〜に限る」 means 'nothing beats ~ / ~ is the best'. When the preceding word is a verb, the dictionary form is used: 「寝るに限ります」= 'When you're tired, nothing beats sleeping.' The dictionary form 寝る is required before に限る.

• 1「寝」is the stem (連用形). While some patterns allow the stem, 〜に限る requires the dictionary form of verbs (寝る), not the stem.
• 3「寝て」is the te-form. It does not precede に限る in this pattern.
• 4「寝た」is the past tense. 〜に限る takes the dictionary form, not the past form.

• 〜に限る（〜にかぎる） — nothing beats ~ / ~ is the best (takes dictionary form for verbs)

～次第 (～しだい) means 'as soon as ~' and attaches to the V-ます stem (continuative form). 決まり is the stem of 決まる, so 決まり次第 means 'as soon as it is decided.' The full sentence means 'As soon as next week's schedule is decided, please contact me.'

• 1決まる is the dictionary form. ～次第 requires the stem (決まり), not the dictionary form, so this is grammatically incorrect.
• 3決まった is the past form. ～次第 does not attach to the past form in this usage, so this is incorrect.
• 4決まって is the te-form. ～次第 does not attach to the te-form, so this is incorrect.

• ～次第（～しだい） — as soon as; once (attached to V-ます stem)
• 決きまる — to be decided; to be fixed
• 連絡れんらくする — to contact; to get in touch

ことはない means 'there is no need to / no reason to.' 心配することはない means 'there is no need to worry.' The full sentence reads 'Your father's illness will get better soon, so you have nothing to worry about,' which is natural and logical.

• 2ことはある means 'there are times when ~ / it does happen.' This would suggest the opposite — that there is reason to worry — which contradicts the reassuring context.
• 3ことでない is not a grammatical pattern in this context and does not produce a meaningful sentence.
• 4ことである means 'it is the case that / one should.' 心配することである would mean 'it is something to worry about,' which contradicts the reassuring tone of the sentence.

• ～ことはない — there is no need to; no reason to (reassuring expression)
• 心配しんぱいする — to worry; to be anxious

にほかならない means 'nothing but / nothing other than.' 日々の努力にほかならない means 'it is nothing other than daily effort.' The full sentence reads 'What brought him success was nothing other than his daily effort,' which is natural and emphatic.

• 1でいられない means 'cannot remain / cannot stay.' This does not fit grammatically or semantically after a noun like 努力.
• 2であたらない means 'not worth / does not amount to.' This would belittle the effort, contradicting the sentence's intent to praise it.
• 3にともなわない means 'not accompanying / not going along with.' This does not produce a meaningful or natural sentence here.

• にほかならない — nothing but; nothing other than (emphatic: it is precisely X)
• もたらす — to bring; to produce (a result)
• 日々の努力（ひびのどりょく） — daily effort; everyday hard work

～てならない means 'so (adjective) that one cannot contain oneself / unbearably.' うれしくてならない means 'so happy I can't help it.' The full sentence reads 'My son passed the university entrance exam and I am so happy I can't stand it,' which is natural and emotionally emphatic.

• 2すまない means 'won't do / cannot be excused / sorry.' うれしくてすまない is not a natural collocation and does not convey the intended emotional intensity.
• 3はいけない means 'must not / cannot.' うれしくてはいけない would mean 'I must not be happy,' which is nonsensical in this context.
• 4かまわない means 'don't mind / don't care.' うれしくてかまわない is not a natural expression and does not fit the grammar pattern being tested.

• ～てならない — so...that one can't help it; unbearably (expresses uncontrollable feeling)
• 合格ごうかくする — to pass (an exam)

とおり means 'exactly as / just as.' 思ったとおりの人 means 'a person exactly as I thought.' The full sentence reads 'My daughter's marriage partner was exactly the person I had imagined, so I was relieved,' which is natural and precise.

• 1よう means 'like / as if.' 思ったような人 would mean 'a person like the one I thought of,' which is grammatically possible but less precise than とおり and is not the intended answer; とおり conveys exact match, while よう conveys similarity.
• 2べき means 'should.' 思ったべきの人 is grammatically incorrect — べき does not modify nouns in this manner.
• 4はず means 'expected / supposed to.' 思ったはずの人 is not a natural collocation; はず expresses expectation about a state/event, not 'exactly as imagined.'

• ～とおり — exactly as; just as (indicates something matches what was expected/said/thought)
• ～よう — like; as if (indicates similarity, not exact match)
• はず — expected; supposed to be (expresses logical expectation)
• 安心あんしんする — to feel relieved; to be at ease