N4 Grammar · Test 36

前の家より会社に近くなりました is correct. Nakata says the new house now takes only 40 minutes by train, compared to 1.5 hours before. This means the new house is closer to the company. より ('compared to') + 近くなりました ('became closer') correctly expresses that the new house is closer than the old one.

• 2前の家ほど会社に近くなりました uses ほど with an affirmative sentence. ほど ('as much as / to the extent of') is normally used with negatives (〜ほど〜ない = 'not as ___ as'). With an affirmative 近くなりました, this sentence is ungrammatical and meaningless.
• 3前の家より会社から遠くなりました means 'became farther from the company than the old house.' This contradicts the context: the commute shortened from 1.5 hours to 40 minutes, so the new house is closer, not farther.
• 4前の家ほど会社から遠くなりました combines ほど with an affirmative, which is ungrammatical. Even if it were grammatical, it would contradict the context.

• 〜より — compared to; more than
• 〜ほど — as ~ as (used with negative: ほど〜ない)
• 近ちかくなる — to become close/near
• 遠とおくなる — to become far/distant

Option 1 (お高う) is correct. This tests the polite (丁寧) form of i-adjectives before ございます. The rule is: drop the final い of the adjective and add うございます. 高い → 高 + うございます = 高うございます. With the polite prefix お, it becomes お高うございます, meaning 'is (a little) expensive' in very polite speech (often used by shop staff).

• 2お高いございます is incorrect. You cannot simply insert ございます after the plain adjective form 高い. The correct contraction is 高うございます (drop い, add う).
• 3高いにございます is ungrammatical. The particle に cannot connect an adjective to ございます in this way.
• 4高いでございます is ungrammatical in standard keigo. The correct polite form uses the う-contraction (高うございます), not で.

• お高うございます（おたこうございます） — it is expensive (very polite form of 高いです, used in formal/customer-service speech)
• ワイシャツ — dress shirt
• 少すこし — a little

Option 1 (お待ちいたします) is correct. This tests 謙譲語 (humble language). The speaker (わたし) is performing the action of waiting for Yamada-sensei, so a humble form is needed. The humble pattern is お + verb stem (待ち) + する/いたします. お待ちいたします = 'I will humbly wait (for you/sensei).' This correctly shows respect to the person being waited for.

• 2お待ちいただきます uses いただく (receive), making it 'I have Yamada-sensei wait for me' — the causative-receptive direction is reversed. The speaker should be the one waiting, not having sensei wait.
• 3お待たせになります is 尊敬語 (honorific) of 待たせる (to make someone wait). It would mean 'Yamada-sensei will make someone wait,' which is both the wrong action and the wrong direction — the speaker is the one waiting, not sensei.
• 4お待たせいただきます combines causative (待たせる) with humble-receptive (いただく), meaning 'I humbly have someone make me wait' — a convoluted and incorrect form that does not express 'I will wait for sensei.'

• お待ちいたします（おまちいたします） — I will humbly wait (謙譲語: お + verb stem + いたします)
• 待まつ — to wait
• 〜まで — until

食べずに is the correct answer. The pattern V-ずに means 'without doing V' and connects two actions, indicating the first was not done when the second was performed. 食べずに学校へ行きました means 'went to school without eating breakfast.' This is the standard negative-gerund construction at this level.

• 1食べずで is ungrammatical. The negative particle ず does not take で; the correct particle is に (ずに).
• 3食べなくて is the て-form of the negative and expresses reason or sequential continuation (e.g., 'didn't eat, so…'), not 'without eating.' It cannot directly connect to another action in the 'without doing' sense.
• 4食べなしで is ungrammatical. なし is a noun-like form meaning 'without' but attaches to nouns (e.g., 靴なしで), not to the stem of a verb.

• 食たべずに — without eating (V-ずに: without doing V)
• ご飯（ごはん） — meal, rice

入っちゃ is the correct answer. 入っちゃ is the colloquial contraction of 入っては, and 入っちゃだめだよ means 'you mustn't go in.' The pattern V-てはだめだ (and its contracted form V-ちゃだめだ) expresses prohibition: 'must not do V.' Since the blank is immediately followed by だめだよ, the contracted form 入っちゃ fits perfectly: 入っちゃだめだよ.

• 1入って alone before だめだよ would require the particle は (入ってはだめだよ). Without は, 入ってだめだよ is grammatically incomplete.
• 2入っただめだよ is ungrammatical; the past tense 入った cannot connect to だめだ in this prohibition pattern.
• 3入るはだめだよ is ungrammatical; the dictionary form 入る does not pair with はだめだ in this construction.

• 入はいっちゃ — contraction of 入っては (must not enter, in the pattern ～ちゃだめだ)
• そうじ — cleaning
• だめだ — no good / must not

買い物にふべんでも is correct. Yamakawa is commenting on what makes a good house location and says '(イ) I think near a park would be good.' The 〜ても ('even if') structure here means 'even if it's inconvenient for shopping, I think being near a park is good.' Yamakawa is prioritizing the park over shopping convenience, so ふべんでも (even if inconvenient) fits the logic: shopping convenience isn't everything.

• 1買い物にべんりでも means 'even if it's convenient for shopping.' If shopping were convenient, that would be a positive point, but the sentence structure with 〜ても suggests a concession — something that might seem negative but is acceptable. Saying 'even if it's convenient for shopping, I think near a park is good' doesn't make logical sense as a concession.
• 3テニスコートがあっても means 'even if there's a tennis court.' This doesn't connect logically to 'I think near a park would be good.' A tennis court and a park are different things, and having a tennis court wouldn't be a concession against a park.
• 4テニスコートが近くても means 'even if a tennis court is close.' Similar to option 3, this doesn't form a logical concession leading to the recommendation of living near a park.

• 〜ても — even if; even though
• 便利べんり — convenient
• 不便ふべん — inconvenient
• テニスコート — tennis court

あそびに来てください is correct. Nakata is inviting Yamakawa to come to his (Nakata's) house. Since Nakata is the host, the direction of movement is toward Nakata, so 来る (to come) is used. 〜に来てください means 'please come (to my place) to play/hang out.' This is a natural invitation.

• 1あそんで きましょう means 'let's come play.' The 〜ましょう form suggests 'let's do X together,' but the speaker is the host inviting the listener, not suggesting they both come together. Also, あそんで来る is less natural than あそびに来る.
• 2あそんで いきましょう means 'let's go play.' 行く (to go) indicates movement away from the speaker, but Nakata is inviting Yamakawa to his own home, so the direction should be toward Nakata (来る). Also, 〜ましょう is a suggestion, not an invitation to the listener.
• 4あそびに 行ってください means 'please go play (somewhere).' 行く indicates movement away from the speaker. Since Nakata is inviting Yamakawa to his own house, the correct verb is 来る (to come toward the speaker), not 行く.

• 遊びに来る（あそびにくる） — to come to play/visit
• 〜てください — please do ~ (request)
• 来くる — to come (toward speaker)
• 行いく — to go (away from speaker)

友だちがタローをくれました is correct. The passage states 'タローは去年わたしが友だちからもらったかわいい子犬です' — 'Taro is a cute puppy that I received from a friend last year.' The speaker (わたし) received Taro from a friend. When describing this same event from the friend's perspective, the friend gave Taro to the speaker, which uses くれる: 友だちが（わたしに）タローをくれました. くれる is used when someone gives something to the speaker or the speaker's in-group.

• 2友だちがタローをもらいました means 'a friend received Taro.' This reverses the direction. The passage says the speaker received Taro from the friend, not that the friend received Taro.
• 3友だちにタローをあげました means 'I gave Taro to a friend.' This reverses the direction entirely — the speaker received Taro from the friend, not gave Taro to the friend.
• 4友だちにタローをくれました is grammatically incorrect. くれる means 'someone gives to me/the speaker,' so the giver must be marked with が, not に. The correct form would be 友だちがタローをくれました (option 1).

• もらう — to receive (from someone)
• くれる — someone gives (to me/the speaker)
• あげる — to give (to someone else)
• 子犬こいぬ — puppy

Option 2 (だした) forms 泣き出した (なきだした), meaning 'burst into tears / suddenly started crying.' The verb 出す (だす) attached to the ます-stem of a verb means 'to suddenly begin doing something.' The sentence means 'When my little sister arrived home, she suddenly burst into tears.'

• 1でた forms 泣きでた, which is not a valid compound verb. The correct stem+出す combination uses the kanji 出す read as だす, not でる.
• 3すぎた forms 泣きすぎた (なきすぎた, 'cried too much'). While grammatically possible, it doesn't fit the context — the sentence describes the sudden onset of crying upon arriving home, not excessive crying.
• 4いれた forms 泣きいれた, which is not a standard or valid compound verb in this context.

• 泣き出す（なきだす） — to burst into tears; to suddenly start crying
• 〜出す（〜だす） — (suffix) to suddenly begin doing (verb stem + だす)

Option 1 (お楽しみ) forms お楽しみください, the standard honorific expression meaning 'please enjoy.' The pattern お + verb stem + ください is a polite/honorific request form. 楽しむ (たのしむ) is a native Japanese (和語) verb, so the prefix お is used (not ご). The sentence means 'The movie is about to begin, so please enjoy it to the end.'

• 2ご楽しみ uses ご, which is the honorific prefix for Sino-Japanese (音読み) nouns. 楽しむ is a native Japanese verb, so お is the correct prefix, not ご.
• 3楽しみなさり would need to be 楽しみなさってください to be grammatical. なさり is the ます-stem of the honorific verb なさる, but なさりください is not a valid form — the te-form なさってください is required.
• 4楽しみになり would need to be 楽しみになってください to be grammatical. になり is the ます-stem of になる (honorific), but になりください is not a valid form — the te-form になってください is required.

• 楽たのしむ — to enjoy
• お〜ください — honorific request pattern: お + verb stem + ください