N3 Grammar · Test 18

なんて is used to express surprise, emotion, or exclamation — 'how ~!' or 'to think that it is so ~!' なんてきれいなんだろう = 'How beautiful (the stars) are!' / 'I can't believe how beautiful they are!' This pattern (なんて + adjective + なんだろう) conveys the speaker's genuine admiration and emotional reaction upon seeing the beautiful stars.

• 1ときでも means 'even when,' which is irrelevant here. There is no time condition being expressed.
• 2なんか is a casual colloquial expression meaning 'things like ~ / ~ or something,' often with a dismissive or downplaying tone. It does not convey the admiring exclamation needed here.
• 4なんでも means 'anything / everything,' which does not fit grammatically or semantically before きれいなんだろう.

• なんて — how ~! (exclamatory, expressing surprise/emotion); to think that ~
• なんか — things like ~, ~ or something (casual, often dismissive)
• 晴はれている — to be clear/sunny (te-form of 晴れる)

The pattern 「V-volitional + か + と思う」means 'I am thinking of doing ~' (with a slight nuance of indecision). Here, 行こうかと思う = 'I'm thinking of going to see it.' The context — an acquaintance's painting will be displayed at an exhibition — naturally leads to the speaker intending to go see it.

• 2行かないかと思う means 'I wonder if I shouldn't go,' which contradicts the context — the speaker wants to go see the exhibition.
• 3行くのかと思う is ungrammatical in this pattern. The volitional form (行こう) is required before かと思う, not the plain form (行く).
• 4行ったかと思う means 'I wonder if I went,' which makes no sense — the speaker hasn't gone yet.

• 〜（よ）うかと思う（〜（よ）うかとおもう） — I'm thinking of doing ~ / I wonder if I should ~ (volitional + か + と思う)
• 飾かざられる — to be displayed/decorated (passive of 飾る)
• 知り合い（しりあい） — acquaintance

悪く（わるく）なりやすい means 'easily goes bad.' The pattern V-stem + やすい means 'easy to ~ / prone to ~.' 悪くなる = 'to go bad' (intransitive), and adding やすい gives 'easily goes bad,' which fits the context: in summer, food easily spoils, so be careful.

• 1なりにくい means 'hard to ~,' so 悪くなりにくい = 'hard to go bad' — the opposite of what the sentence needs.
• 2しやすい requires the transitive verb 悪くする ('to make bad'), but here the subject is 食べ物 (food), which goes bad on its own (intransitive 悪くなる). 悪くしやすい is ungrammatical in this context.
• 3しにくい has the same problem as option 2 — 悪くしにくい uses the transitive form and is ungrammatical here.

• 〜やすい — easy to ~, prone to ~ (attached to verb stem)
• 〜にくい — hard to ~, difficult to ~ (attached to verb stem)
• 悪わるくなる — to go bad, to spoil (intransitive)

踏まれてしまった is the passive form of 踏む ('to step on') + てしまう ('to end up doing / unfortunately'). The sentence means: 'The train I was on suddenly stopped, and I unfortunately had my new white shoes stepped on by the person standing next to me.' The passive is needed because the speaker is the victim — someone else stepped on their shoes. てしまう conveys the regrettable outcome.

• 1踏んでしまった is the active form: 'I stepped on (them).' This reverses the roles — the speaker's shoes were stepped on, not the other way around.
• 2踏んでおいた means 'I stepped on (them) in advance' (ておく = doing something in preparation), which is nonsensical here.
• 4踏ませておいた means 'I let (someone) step on (them) and left it at that' (causative + ておく), which is also nonsensical in this context.

• 踏ふむ — to step on
• 踏ふまれる — to be stepped on (passive of 踏む)
• 〜てしまう — to end up doing ~ (often conveys regret or unintended result)

The key grammar pattern is 「〜ても不思議ではない」= 'it wouldn't be strange even if ~ / it's no surprise if ~.' The context says all 8 participants have won international tournaments before, so it wouldn't be surprising no matter who wins. This fits perfectly. NOTE: The word in all options is transcribed as 優秀 (ゆうしゅう, 'excellent,' an adjective that cannot take する), but it should be 優勝 (ゆうしょう, 'to win a championship,' a noun that can take する). With 優勝, option 1 reads 優勝しても不思議ではない = 'it wouldn't be strange no matter who wins.'

• 2優勝したらいい = 'it would be good if (someone) wins' — this expresses a wish, which doesn't fit the neutral/observational tone of the passage.
• 3優勝するに違いない = ' (someone) will definitely win' — に違いない expresses strong certainty, but the passage emphasizes that anyone could win, not that one specific person definitely will.
• 4優勝するのではないだろうか = 'won't (someone) win?' — this speculative pattern doesn't fit as well as the 〜ても不思議ではない pattern, which directly captures the idea that any outcome is unsurprising.

• 〜ても不思議ではない（〜てもふしぎではない） — it wouldn't be strange even if ~ / it's no surprise if ~
• 優勝ゆうしょう — championship, winning a tournament (NOTE: transcribed as 優秀 in all options — see issues)
• 〜に違いない（〜にちがいない） — must be, definitely (expresses strong certainty)

The correct answer is 3 (着いたとしても). ～としても means 'even if~; even assuming~.' 夜遅く駅に着いたとしても安心だ = 'Even if I arrive at the station late at night, I feel safe/reassured.' The context explains that the hotel is right in front of the station, so arriving late is not a problem.

• 1着いたり is the たり form (used for listing actions: 'doing things like arriving~'). It cannot connect to 安心だ in a meaningful way here.
• 2着いたため means 'because I arrived' (cause/reason). This would mean 'because I arrived at the station late at night, I feel safe,' which reverses the logical relationship — the safety comes from the hotel's location, not from the act of arriving.
• 4着いたかどうか means 'whether or not I arrived.' 夜遅く駅に着いたかどうか安心だ = 'whether or not I arrived at the station late at night, I feel safe,' which is nonsensical in this context.

• ～としても — even if~; even assuming~ (concessive conditional)
• 駅前えきまえ — in front of the station; area around the station
• 安心あんしん — safe; reassured; peace of mind
• 泊とまる — to stay (at a hotel, etc.)

The sentence means: 'This is my second time in Japan. I came 20 years ago, and I was surprised that the coffee shop I entered back then was still open.' The correct answer is 営業していて, which is the te-form of 営業している (to be in business / to be operating). The ている expresses a continuing state (the shop is still operating), and the te-form connects to 驚いた as the reason for the surprise: 'I was surprised that it was still operating.'

• 1営業して is just the te-form of 営業する without ている. It lacks the continuing-state meaning needed here — the shop has been open for 20 years, so you need ている to express that ongoing state.
• 2営業しなくて means 'not operating' (negative). This gives the opposite meaning — the speaker would be surprised if the shop had closed, but the context (まだ = 'still') indicates the shop is still open.
• 4営業していなくて is the negative of 営業している in te-form, meaning 'not operating.' Same problem as option 2 — it gives the opposite meaning from what the context requires.

• 営業(えいぎょう)する — to do business, to be open/operating
• 驚(おどろ)く — to be surprised
• まだ — still

The sentence means: 'When I was a child, I always had my parents read me a picture book and then went to sleep.' The correct answer is 読んでもらってから. もらう is used when the speaker (the child) receives a favor from someone (the parents). The structure 〜てもらってから means 'after having someone do (something) for me.' Here, 親に絵本を読んでもらってから = 'after having my parents read a picture book to me,' and then 寝ていた = 'I would sleep.'

• 1読んでくれてから uses くれる, which describes the action from the giver's perspective (the parent gives the favor). When the subject is the receiver (the child) and に marks the giver, もらう is the natural choice, not くれる. Using くれる with the speaker as subject and に marking the giver is grammatically unnatural in Japanese.
• 3読んでくれるから uses から meaning 'because,' not 'after.' This would mean 'because they read to me, I slept,' which changes the meaning. The sentence needs the sequential meaning 'after reading → then sleep,' which requires 〜てから.
• 4読んでもらおうか is the volitional form (〜よう) plus the question particle か, meaning 'Shall I have them read to me?' This does not fit grammatically — it cannot connect to 寝ていた to describe a past habitual action.

• 〜てもらう — to have someone do something for me (receiver-focused)
• 〜てくれる — someone does something for me (giver-focused)
• 〜てから — after doing ~

The sentence is from a cooking show: 'First, fry the meat in a frying pan. When the meat's color changes, please add the vegetables.' The correct answer is 変わってきたら. 〜たら means 'when ~ happens' and indicates a one-time condition that triggers the next action. 変わってくる describes a change that comes toward the speaker/observer (the color starts changing and reaches a visible state), and たら marks it as the timing condition: 'when the color has changed, add the vegetables.'

• 1変わっていって is the te-form of 変わっていく, which describes a change moving away from the speaker. The te-form alone cannot function as a condition connecting to 野菜をいれてください. It would need a conditional form like 〜たら or 〜と to work.
• 2変わってくるのに means 'even though the color is changing.' のに expresses contrast/concession ('even though'), which does not fit — the instruction is to add vegetables when the color changes, not despite it changing.
• 3変わっていくと uses 〜と, which indicates a general/automatic conditional ('whenever ~ happens, ~ happens'). While grammatically possible, 〜と implies a natural/repeated consequence, whereas 〜たら is more appropriate for giving specific instructions about a one-time action ('when this happens, do this'). In cooking instructions, たら is the natural choice.

• 変(か)わる — to change
• 〜てくる — change coming toward the present/speaker
• 〜たら — when ~ (conditional for one-time events)

The sentence means: 'When a baby won't go to sleep, I heard that if you make the baby listen to classical music, they sleep well.' The correct answer is 聞かせる, the causative form of 聞く (to listen). The structure is 赤ちゃんにクラシック音楽を聞かせる = 'make the baby listen to classical music.' The に marks who is being made to do the action, and を marks the object (the music). This connects to 〜とよく寝る ('they sleep well'), forming a conditional: 'if you make them listen, they sleep well.'

• 2聞かれる is the passive form of 聞く, meaning 'to be heard' or 'to be asked.' This would make the music the subject being heard, which doesn't fit the sentence structure 赤ちゃんに...を聞かれる. The causative 聞かせる is needed to express 'make someone listen.'
• 3聞かされる is the causative-passive form, meaning 'to be made to listen.' This expresses the perspective of the person being forced to listen (the baby), but the sentence is from the parent's perspective ('make the baby listen'), so the plain causative 聞かせる is correct, not the causative-passive.
• 4聞いている is the progressive form 'is listening.' This would mean 'when a baby won't sleep, if the baby is listening to classical music, they sleep well,' but it doesn't express the causative meaning of making the baby listen. The sentence needs the parent to actively cause the listening.

• 聞(き)かせる — to make someone listen (causative of 聞く)
• 聞(き)かれる — to be heard, to be asked (passive of 聞く)
• 聞(き)かされる — to be made to listen (causative-passive of 聞く)