N4 Grammar · Test 45

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

The pattern V-なくて + もいい = 'don't have to V / it is okay not to V'. 行く → 行かなくて + もいい = 行かなくてもいい 'don't have to go'. The sentence means 'Since my injury has healed, I don't have to go to the hospital anymore.'

• 1行く is the dictionary form. 行くもいい is not a valid grammar pattern.
• 2行った is the plain past form. 行ったもいい is ungrammatical.
• 4行かない is the plain negative. 行かないもいい is not grammatical; the correct negative pattern requires the て-form 行かなくて + もいい.

• 行いく — to go
• ～なくてもいい — don't have to…; it is okay not to…
• けが — injury, wound
• なおる — to heal, to recover

The pattern ～かもしれない means 'might / may be…'. For nouns and pronouns, かもしれない attaches directly without the copula だ. あっち is a pronoun (こそあど word meaning 'over there'), so あっちかもしれない = 'might be over there'. The sentence means 'The station might be over there.'

• 2あっちだ includes the copula だ. Before かもしれない, だ is dropped for nouns/pronouns; あっちだかもしれない is ungrammatical.
• 3あっちで is the て-form of the copula. ～でかもしれない is not a valid pattern.
• 4あっちな is the pre-noun form (連体形) of the copula, used before nouns. It cannot precede かもしれない.

• あっち — over there (colloquial pronoun, こそあど word)
• ～かもしれない — might be, may be (attaches to plain form; だ is dropped for nouns)
• 駅えき — train station

おち (ochi) is the stem (連用形) of the verb おちる (to fall). When attached to そうだ, V-stem + そうだ means 'looks like it is about to (happen).' おちそうだ means 'it looks like it's about to fall.' The sentence says 'It looks like the wallet is about to fall out of your pocket!'

• 2おちて (ochite) is the て-form. 〜てそうだ is not a grammatical pattern. The そうだ of appearance/conjecture attaches to the verb stem, not the て-form.
• 3おちなく (ochinaku) is a negative form, but 〜なくそうだ is not grammatical. The negative conjecture form would be おちそうにない, not おちなくそうだ.
• 4おちないで (ochinaide) is the negative て-form. 〜ないでそうだ is not a grammatical pattern and doesn't fit here.

• 〜そうだ — looks like; seems like; about to (attached to V-stem for imminent action)
• おちる — to fall; to drop
• さいふ — wallet

死んだ (shinda) is the past tense (た-form) of 死ぬ (to die). In the pattern V-た + ように, it means 'as if one had done V' or 'like something that has happened.' 死んだようにねている means 'sleeping as if dead' — describing the appearance of deep, motionless sleep caused by exhaustion. The past tense form is the standard way to express a simile of a completed state.

• 1死に (shini) is the verb stem (連用形) of 死ぬ. V-stem + ように is used for purpose ('so as to'), not for simile ('as if'). 死にように is not a standard grammatical expression for 'as if dead.'
• 2死ぬ (shinu) is the dictionary form. V-辞書形 + ように can mean 'in order to' or 'as if (doing),' but for describing a state of being 'as if dead,' the past form 死んだように is the natural and correct choice. 死ぬように would mean 'as if to die' or 'in order to die,' which doesn't fit.
• 3死ねば (shineba) is the conditional form (ば-form). 〜ばように is not a grammatical pattern at all.

• 死しんだように — as if dead (V-た + ように for simile)
• つかれて — being exhausted (て-form of つかれる)
• ねている — is sleeping

The pattern たぶん + plain form + だろう expresses conjecture: 'probably ~.' 雨がふる (plain non-past of ふる) + だろう = 'It will probably rain tomorrow.' The dictionary (plain) form is the correct form before だろう for future conjecture.

• 1ふって is the て-form of ふる. It cannot directly precede だろう; the て-form is used for connecting clauses or for て-form requests, not for this conjecture pattern.
• 3ふった is the plain past form. 雨がふっただろう would mean 'it probably rained' (past conjecture), but the sentence says あした (tomorrow), so the non-past form is required.
• 4ふれば is the conditional ば-form, meaning 'if it rains.' It cannot be used before だろう in this conjecture pattern.

• たぶん — probably
• ふる（降る） — to fall (rain, snow)
• 〜だろう — probably ~; I think ~ (conjecture)