N4 Grammar · Test 27

こんな is correct. こんな means 'this kind of' and refers to something near the speaker. B is wearing the shirt now and pointing to it as an example, so こんな色です ('this kind of color') is appropriate — the shirt is right there on the speaker's body.

• 1あんな means 'that kind of' and refers to something far from both the speaker and listener (e.g., something they both see at a distance or recall). The shirt is on the speaker, so this is wrong.
• 3どの means 'which' and is a question word used to ask someone to choose among options. B is answering, not asking, so this doesn't fit.
• 4その means 'that kind of' and refers to something near the listener. The shirt is on the speaker (B), not the listener (A), so その is inappropriate.

• 草色くさいろ — grass green color
• こんな — this kind of (near speaker)
• あんな — that kind of (far from both)
• 着きている — is wearing (ている form of 着る)

The sentence means 'I heard someone saying that today's class is off.' The structure is: だれかが言っているのを聞きました. Here, の nominalizes the clause 言っている (is saying), turning it into a noun phrase that can take the object particle を before 聞きました (heard). The pattern 「〜のを聞く」is used when you directly hear/overhear someone doing something. Option 2 「言っているの」correctly provides this nominalizer.

• 1言って　いる — A verb in plain form cannot directly take the object particle を. You need a nominalizer (の or こと) to turn the verb clause into a noun phrase before を.
• 3言って　いること — こと also nominalizes, but 「〜ことを聞く」sounds unnatural for the act of overhearing someone speak. の is used for directly perceiving/hearing an action, while こと is more abstract (e.g., hearing about a fact). For hearing someone actually speaking, の is the correct choice.
• 4言って　いるもの — もの means a concrete physical 'thing,' not suitable for nominalizing an action like 'saying.'

• 休やすみ — day off / cancelled (class)
• だれか — someone
• 聞きく — to hear / to listen
• の（nominalizer） — nominalizer that turns a verb phrase into a noun, used for directly perceived actions

The sentence means 'I look at the weather that day and decide whether to wear a hat or not.' The key pattern is 「〜か〜ないか」meaning 'whether to do ~ or not.' The full phrase is ぼうしをかぶるかかぶらないか決めています — 'I decide whether to wear a hat or not wear a hat.' Option 3 「かぶらないか」completes this alternating pattern: かぶるか + かぶらないか.

• 1かぶらない — Without the second か, this does not form the 'whether or not' pattern. The sentence would read 'whether to wear a hat, not wear' which is grammatically incomplete.
• 2かぶらなくて — 〜なくて is used for reason/cause ('because not ~') or linking negative clauses, not for the 'whether or not' construction.
• 4かぶらないが — 〜が means 'but,' which does not fit the 'whether A or not A' pattern needed here.

• 天気てんき — weather
• ぼうし — hat
• かぶる — to wear (on head)
• 決きめる — to decide
• 〜か〜ないか — whether to ~ or not

The sentence means 'The exam schedule is posted in the classroom.' The pattern 「〜てある」describes a resultant state of an action performed on an object — something was done and the result remains. Here, someone posted (はった) the schedule, and it is still posted (はってある). The subject 時間割 takes が with てある. Option 1 「あります」completes はってあります correctly.

• 2います — 〜ている is used for ongoing actions or states of animate subjects (people/animals), or for actions in progress. For inanimate objects in a resultant state (something was placed/posted and remains), 〜てある is the correct choice, not 〜ている.
• 3おきます — 〜ておく means doing something in advance as preparation (e.g., 'I'll post it ahead of time'). It describes the actor's intention, not the current state of the object.
• 4みます — 〜てみる means 'try doing something' to see what happens. It does not describe a state of being posted.

• 教室きょうしつ — classroom
• 試験しけん — exam
• 時間割じかんわり — schedule / timetable
• はる — to post / to stick (on a wall)
• 〜てある — resultant state of an action — something has been done and the result remains

The sentence means 'Recently, various kinds of gum are sold at supermarkets.' The subject ガム is an inanimate object being sold, so we need the passive form 売られる (is sold) plus 〜ている to express the ongoing state of being sold. Option 4 「売られています」= 売られる (passive) + ている (state) correctly expresses 'are (being) sold.'

• 1売ります — This is the active form 'sells,' which would mean the gum itself is doing the selling. Since gum is an inanimate object, the passive is needed.
• 2売って　いきます — 〜ていく expresses an action continuing away from the speaker or into the future ('will go on selling'). This does not match the present-state description 'recently ... are sold.'
• 3売らせます — This is the causative form 'make/let someone sell,' which changes the meaning entirely and does not fit the context.

• 最近さいきん — recently
• いろんな — various (casual form of いろいろな)
• 種類しゅるい — kind / type
• ガム — gum (chewing gum)
• 売うる — to sell
• 〜られる（受身）（〜られる（うけみ）） — passive suffix — 'is sold'
• 〜ている — ongoing state — 'is/are (sold)'

The correct answer is 4 (に). The pattern 〜にする means 'to decide on ~' or 'I'll go with ~,' used when choosing one option from several. B is choosing what to eat, so てんぷらそばにします means 'I'll have tempura soba.' The sentence means A: 'What will you eat?' B: 'I'll have tempura soba.'

• 1を marks a direct object, but the verb here is する used in the 〜にする pattern (to choose/decide on), not a normal transitive verb taking を.
• 2が marks a subject. It does not fit the 〜にする selection pattern.
• 3は is a topic marker. While it could mark a topic in other contexts, the fixed expression for choosing something is 〜にする, so は is incorrect here.

• 〜にする — to decide on ~; I'll go with ~ (choosing from options)
• てんぷらそば — tempura soba (soba noodles with tempura)

The correct answer is 1 (ばかり). The pattern 〜てばかりで means 'doing nothing but ~' and connects to a negative continuation. あそんでばかりで勉強をしない means 'He does nothing but play and doesn't study.' The て form of あそぶ (あそんで) + ばかりで sets up the contrast with the negative clause.

• 2ぐらい means 'about/approximately' and does not attach to the て form in this pattern. 〜てぐらいで is not a valid grammatical construction.
• 3しか means 'only' but must be followed by a negative verb (〜しか〜ない). It does not attach to the て form as 〜てしかで.
• 4ながら means 'while/doing simultaneously' and attaches to the ます-stem (あそびながら), not to the て form. あそんでながらで is ungrammatical.

• ばかり — nothing but, only (with て form: 〜てばかりで, expressing doing nothing but ~)
• 勉強べんきょう — study

The correct answer is 2 (の). The particle の at the end of a question (帰るの？) is the explanatory/softening の, commonly used in casual speech to ask for information in a gentle tone. いつ国へ帰るの？ means 'When are you going back to your country?' This is a very common question pattern at this level.

• 1な is a sentence-ending particle used for prohibition (〜な = don't do ~) or as a casual imperative. 帰るな would mean 'Don't go back,' which contradicts the question mark and the question word いつ.
• 3し is used to list reasons (〜し、〜し). It does not function as a question-ending particle in this context.
• 4わ is a feminine sentence-ending particle expressing emphasis or emotion, but it is not typically used with question words like いつ in this type of information-seeking question.

• の — explanatory/softening sentence-final particle used in questions to seek information gently
• 国くに — country, home country
• 帰かえる — to return, to go back

The correct answer is 1 (が). The sentence uses the passive form 読まれています ('is being read'). In a passive sentence, the thing being acted upon (the subject) is marked by が. 日本のまんがが読まれています = 'Japanese manga are being read.' The subject of the passive verb is まんが, so が is required.

• 2へ indicates direction of movement and cannot mark the subject of a passive verb.
• 3に can mark the agent in a passive sentence (〜に読まれる = 'read by ~'), but here we need to mark the subject (what is being read), not the agent.
• 4を marks the direct object in active sentences (まんがを読む = 'read manga'), but in a passive sentence the object becomes the subject marked by が, so を is incorrect here.

• 読よまれる — to be read (passive form of 読む)
• さいきん — recently, these days
• まんが — manga, Japanese comics

The correct answer is 3 (より). The pattern 〜より〜のほうが〜 is the standard comparison structure: 'Compared to X, Y is more ~.' 兄より弟のほうがせが高い means 'Compared to the older brother, the younger brother is taller.' より marks the item being compared against.

• 1から means 'from' and is not used in comparison structures.
• 2まで means 'until/as far as' and is not used in comparison structures.
• 4ほど is used in negative comparisons (〜ほど〜ない = 'not as ~ as'), but this sentence is affirmative (せが高い), so ほど does not fit.

• より — compared to, than (marks the basis of comparison)
• 兄あに — older brother
• 弟おとうと — younger brother
• 背せ — height (of a person)