N4 Grammar · Test 44

The pattern being tested is V-ます stem + はじめる ('to begin doing V'). The verb 通う (to commute/attend) has its ます-stem as 通い, so the correct sentence is 通いはじめる ('begin to commute/attend'). Option 4, 通い, is correct.

• 1通わ is the negative stem (ない-form stem) of 通う. 通わはじめる is ungrammatical; はじめる requires the ます-stem, not the negative stem.
• 2通う is the dictionary form of the verb. 通うはじめる is ungrammatical; you cannot attach はじめる directly to the dictionary form. The ます-stem (通い) is required.
• 3通った is the past tense of 通う. 通ったはじめる is ungrammatical; the past form cannot connect to はじめる.

• 通かよう — to commute, to attend (school)
• 〜はじめる — to begin doing ~ (attached to V-ます stem)
• 小学校しょうがっこう — elementary school

The sentence is asking about the location of the necktie section: 'The necktie section is on the 2nd floor.' The pattern being tested is the polite/humble form of ある, which is ございます. In formal store/department speech, 2階にございます ('is on the 2nd floor') is the correct polite way to state location. Option 4 is correct.

• 1あってございます is an incorrect double-form. あって is the te-form of ある, and ございます is the polite form of ある. Combining them as あってございます is ungrammatical — you use ございます alone as the polite substitute for ある.
• 2おあります is an incorrect form. The お + verb stem pattern for politeness does not apply to ある in this way. ある does not take the お〜 pattern; instead, ある is replaced entirely by ございます in polite speech.
• 3いらっしゃいます is the honorific form of いる/行く/来る (to be/to go/to come), used for people, not for inanimate things like a store section. A necktie section cannot いらっしゃる; it can only ある/ございます.

• ございます — polite/humble form of ある (to be, to exist - inanimate)
• 売り場（うりば） — sales section, counter/department (in a store)
• いらっしゃる — honorific form of いる/行く/来る (for people)

The sentence means 'Suddenly it started raining.' The pattern V-stem + だす (出す) means 'to suddenly start doing an action.' ふりだした = 'started raining,' which fits 急に (suddenly) perfectly.

• 1つづけた (続けた) means 'continued.' This would mean 'it continued raining,' but with 急に (suddenly) the natural reading is that the rain began, not that it continued.
• 3でた (出た) is the intransitive verb 'came out / appeared' and cannot attach to the V-stem ふり. It does not form a compound here.
• 4きた (来た) as V-stem + くる indicates a change or action coming toward the present, but ふりきた is not a standard compound and does not convey 'started' the way だした does.

• 急きゅうに — suddenly
• 降り出す（ふりだす） — to start raining (V-stem + だす: to begin doing)
• 降り続ける（ふりつづける） — to continue raining

The sentence means '(I) fell asleep with my glasses still on.' 〜まま means a state is left unchanged while another action occurs. めがねをかけたまま = 'keeping the glasses on (as they were),' then ねてしまいました = 'ended up falling asleep.' This is the classic N4 pattern for an unaltered state.

• 1あいだ (間) means 'while / during,' but it requires an ongoing action/state in the subordinate clause and does not express the 'left as is' nuance needed here.
• 2ながら means 'while doing' and attaches to the V-stem (e.g., かけながら), not かけた. It also implies simultaneous action, not a maintained state.
• 4まえに (前に) means 'before doing,' giving '(I) fell asleep before putting on glasses,' which is illogical with かけた (already put on).

• 眼鏡めがね — glasses
• 〜まま — as it is; leaving a state unchanged
• 寝ねてしまう — to end up sleeping (V-て + しまう: completion/regret)

The sentence means 'I will make it a rule not to drink alcohol anymore.' 〜ことにする is a fixed N4 pattern meaning 'to decide to / make it a habit to.' 飲まないことにする = 'decide not to drink.' こと is the correct noun.

• 1ところにする is not a grammatical pattern. ところ means 'place' or 'just about to ~,' neither of which fits here.
• 2ためにする is not a valid construction. ため means 'for the purpose of,' but it does not combine with にする to express a decision.
• 4ものにする means 'to make something into ~ / to accomplish,' and does not fit the pattern for deciding on a personal rule.

• 〜ことにする — to decide to; to make it a rule to
• 飲のまない — not drink (negative form of 飲む)
• アルコール（あるこーる） — alcohol

The correct answer is 1 (使えます). The question あなたははしが使えますか means 'Can you use chopsticks?' はし (chopsticks) is marked with が, and 使えます is the potential form of 使う, meaning 'can use.' The potential form with が is the standard pattern for asking about ability: (object)が (potential verb).

• 2使います is the plain non-past of 使う, meaning 'do you use?' While not entirely impossible in casual speech, the natural and grammatically standard way to ask about ability with が is the potential form 使えます. In a JLPT test context, the potential form is the intended answer.
• 3使わせます is the causative form, meaning 'will make (someone) use.' This does not fit the question—you are not making someone use chopsticks.
• 4使われます is the passive form, meaning 'will be used.' This would mean 'Are chopsticks used (by you)?' which is an unnatural way to ask about personal ability.

• 箸はし — chopsticks
• 使つかえる — potential form of 使う: can use

The correct answer is 1 (いそがし). The pattern is the そう construction for appearance/conjecture: for い-adjectives, you drop the い and attach そう. いそがしい → いそがし + そう = いそがしそう, meaning 'looks busy.' The full sentence means 'Since Mr./Ms. Ishida looks busy, let's help (him/her).'

• 2いそがしく is the adverbial form (く-form) of いそがしい. Attaching そう to this form is ungrammatical for the appearance/conjecture そう.
• 3いそがしくて is the て-form of いそがしい. This would create a coordinate structure ('busy and...'), not the そう conjecture pattern. そう cannot follow the て-form in this construction.
• 4いそがしいだ is ungrammatical. い-adjectives in plain form already end in い; adding だ is incorrect (だ attaches to nouns and な-adjective stems, not い-adjectives).

• 忙いそがしい — busy
• 〜そう — looks like / appears to be (conjecture based on appearance)

起こされました is the passive form of 起こす (to wake someone up). 母に起こされました means 'I was woken up by my mother.' The particle に marks the agent of the passive action, and 私は (marked by は) is the one affected. This is the standard direct passive (直接受身).

• 1起きました is the intransitive verb 起きる ('to wake up on one's own'). It cannot take 母に as an agent because it is not a transitive verb — there is no one doing the waking.
• 2起こしました is the active transitive 'I woke (someone) up.' With 母に it would mean 'I woke up toward my mother,' which is ungrammatical. The correct active would be 母を起こしました.
• 3起こらせました is the causative form of 起きる ('I made my mother wake up'). This reverses the roles — the speaker would be causing the mother to wake, which does not match the intended meaning 'I was woken up by my mother.'

• 起おこす — to wake someone up (transitive)
• 起おこされる — to be woken up (passive of 起こす)
• 起おきる — to wake up (intransitive)

かんたんだった is the plain past form of the な-adjective かんたん. 〜そうです (hearsay / 'I heard that…') attaches to the plain form of verbs and adjectives. For a な-adjective in the past tense, the plain form is かんたんだった, so かんたんだったそうです is correct: 'I heard that last year's exam was easy.'

• 1かんたんな is the pre-noun form (連体形) used to modify a noun (かんたんな試験). Before そうです (hearsay), you need the predicative form, not the attributive form.
• 2かんたんに is the adverbial form ('easily'). It cannot precede そうです in this hearsay pattern, and it would change the meaning to 'easily' rather than 'was easy.'
• 4かんたんでした is the polite past form. 〜そうです (hearsay) requires the plain form (かんたんだった), not the polite form. Polite + そう is ungrammatical for hearsay.

• 簡単かんたん — easy (な-adjective)
• 〜そうです — I heard that… / It is said that… (hearsay; attaches to plain form)

しまっています is the 〜ています form of しまう (intransitive: 'to close/be closed'). With ドアが, it describes the resulting state of the door being closed: 'The door is closed.' This is the standard intransitive 〜ている pattern for a state resulting from a change.

• 1しめます is the transitive verb しめる ('to close something') in the non-past polite form. With ドアが (intransitive subject marker), it is ungrammatical — you would need ドアをしめます ('I will close the door').
• 2しめています is the transitive しめる in 〜ています form, meaning 'is (in the process of) closing (something).' With ドアが it is ungrammatical; the correct form would be ドアをしめています. Also, it describes an action in progress, not a state.
• 4しまってあります is ungrammatical. 〜てある requires a transitive verb (他動詞) and marks the object with が. しまう is intransitive (自動詞), so しまってある is not valid. The correct 〜てある form would be しめてあります (from the transitive しめる).

• しまう — to close, to be closed (intransitive / 自動詞)
• しめる — to close something (transitive / 他動詞)
• 〜ています — (with intransitive verb) expresses a resulting state