N4 Grammar · Test 57

The correct answer is 2 (寒い). The pattern ようだ (ようですね in polite form) means 'it seems/looks like.' Before ようだ, an い-adjective attaches in its plain form directly: 寒いようだ (さむいようだ), 'it seems cold.' The sentence means: 'It seems cold outside, doesn't it?'

• 1寒 (さむ) is the stem of the い-adjective without the い ending. It cannot directly modify ようだ; you need the full adjective form 寒い.
• 3寒く is the て-form (寒くて) without て, or the adverbial form. Before ようだ you need the plain adjective form 寒い, not the adverbial 寒く.
• 4寒いの is incorrect. の is unnecessary and ungrammatical here; the plain form 寒い attaches directly to ようだ.

• 外そと — outside
• 寒さむい — cold
• 〜ようだ — it seems like, it looks like

The correct answer is 2 (のぼろう). The pattern 〜(volitional)と思っています expresses the speaker's intention or plan: 'I intend to ~.' The volitional form of のぼる (to climb) is のぼろう. The sentence means: 'I intend to climb Mt. Fuji next month.'

• 1のぼり is the stem (ます-form) of the verb. 〜と思っています requires the volitional form, not the masu-stem.
• 3のぼった is the past tense. You cannot express intention with a past tense form before と思っています.
• 4のぼります is the polite non-past form. Before と in 〜と思っています, you need the plain volitional form (のぼろう), not the polite form.

• 来月らいげつ — next month
• 富士山ふじさん — Mt. Fuji
• 登のぼる — to climb
• 〜(volitional)と思っている（〜(volitional)とおもっている） — to intend to, to plan to

The correct answer is 1 (使わず). The pattern 〜ずに means 'without doing ~.' The negative stem ず is attached to the verb's あ-stem: 使わない → 使わず, then に follows: 使わずに (つかわずに), 'without using.' The sentence means: 'Can you read a Japanese newspaper without using a dictionary?'

• 2使わないに is incorrect. The pattern is ずに, not ないに. ない does not combine with に to mean 'without doing.'
• 3使わなくに is incorrect. なく is the adverbial/て-form of ない, but the correct pattern for 'without doing' is ずに, not なくに.
• 4使わなくてに is incorrect. なくて is the て-form of ない and cannot be followed by に in this pattern. The correct form is ずに.

• 辞書じしょ — dictionary
• 使つかう — to use
• 〜ずに — without doing ~ (negative + に)

The correct answer is 2 (話せる). The pattern 〜ように expresses a goal or purpose: 'so that ~ can happen.' Before ように, you use the potential form of the verb: 話せる (はなせる, can speak). The sentence means: 'I practice many times so that I can speak well.' 上手な (じょうずな, skillful/good at) modifies the overall idea of speaking skillfully.

• 1話し is the stem (ます-form) of 話す. While 話しように could be parsed as 'way of speaking,' the sentence is about practice for a purpose, which requires the potential form 話せるように ('so that I can speak').
• 3話そう is the volitional form. 〜ように does not take the volitional form; it takes the plain or potential form to express a target/goal.
• 4話される is the passive form. The passive form does not fit here; the intended meaning is 'so that I can speak well,' requiring the potential form 話せる.

• 上手じょうずな — skillful, good at
• 話はなす — to speak
• 話はなせる — can speak (potential form)
• 何度なんども — many times, repeatedly
• 練習れんしゅうする — to practice
• 〜ように — so that ~ (expresses purpose/goal)

The correct answer is 3 (きけんな). The pattern 〜ので (because) requires the plain form before it. For na-adjectives and nouns, the connector is な: きけんな + ので = きけんなので (きけんなので), 'because it is dangerous.' The sentence means: 'Because it is dangerous, you must not touch that machine.'

• 1きけん (without な) before ので is incorrect. Nouns and na-adjectives require な before ので: きけんなので.
• 2きけんに before ので is incorrect. に is not the connecting particle for ので; the correct connector is な.
• 4きけんだ before ので is incorrect. だ is not used before ので; the correct form replaces だ with な: きけんなので.

• 危険きけん — danger (na-adjective: dangerous)
• 機械きかい — machine
• 触さわる — to touch
• 〜てはいけない — must not do ~
• 〜ので — because (reason/cause)

Option 3 (買い) is the V-ます stem of 買う. The pattern V-ます stem + 方（かた）means 'way to do V'. 買い方 = 'way to buy (tickets)'. The full sentence means 'Excuse me, please teach me how to buy tickets.'

• 1買った is the plain past form (ta-form), which cannot attach to 方.
• 2買って is the te-form, which cannot attach to 方.
• 4買う is the dictionary form, which cannot attach to 方 — only the V-ます stem is used before 方.

• 方かた — way, method (attached to V-ます stem to mean 'way to do something')
• きっぷ — ticket
• 買かう — to buy
• 教おしえる — to teach, to tell

The sentence means 'Today I was praised by the teacher.' This requires the passive voice: 先生にほめられる ('to be praised by the teacher'). The stem ほめられ (passive stem of ほめる) + ました gives ほめられました ('was praised'), which fits perfectly with 先生に marking the agent of the passive.

• 1ほめさせて is the causative て-form of ほめる, meaning 'made (someone) praise.' This would mean 'I made the teacher praise (someone),' which doesn't fit the sentence structure or meaning.
• 3ほめて is the て-form of ほめる ('to praise'). With 先生にほめて, it would mean 'I praised the teacher,' but the particle に (not を) and the context indicate the speaker received the action, not performed it.
• 4ほめ is the verb stem (ます-stem) of ほめる. While the stem can sometimes connect to ました in very colloquial speech, it is not grammatically standard here, and more importantly it would mean 'I praised (the teacher),' not 'I was praised by the teacher.' The passive form is required.

• ほめる — to praise
• ほめられる — to be praised (passive of ほめる)
• ほめさせる — to make someone praise (causative of ほめる)

The pattern 〜と思う ('I think that〜') takes the plain form of the predicate before と. 無理 (むり) is a な-adjective, and its plain predicative form (used at the end of a clause, before と) is 無理だ. So 仕事をつづけるのは無理だと思う ('I think it is impossible to continue working') is correct.

• 1むりで is the て-form / continuative form of the な-adjective, used to link clauses ('impossible, and〜'). It cannot serve as the main predicate before とと思う.
• 2むりに is the adverbial form, meaning 'unreasonably / by force.' It modifies verbs (e.g., 無理にする 'to force'), and cannot be the predicate before と思う.
• 4むりな is the attributive (pre-noun) form of the な-adjective, used before a noun (e.g., 無理な計画 'an unreasonable plan'). Before とと思う, the predicative form 無理だ is required, not the attributive form.

• 無理むり — impossible, unreasonable (な-adjective)
• 無理むりだ — it is impossible (plain predicative form)
• 無理むりな — unreasonable, impossible (attributive form, before nouns)
• 無理むりに — by force, unreasonably (adverbial form)

The pattern V-ます stem + すぎ means 'too much V-ing.' The ます-stem of すう (吸う, 'to smoke / to inhale') is すい, so すいすぎ means 'smoking too much.' The sentence says たばこのすいすぎはよくないですよ ('Smoking too much is not good, you know').

• 2すう is the dictionary form of the verb. The すぎ pattern requires the ます-stem (すい), not the dictionary form. すうすぎ is ungrammatical.
• 3すって is the て-form of すう. The すぎ pattern does not attach to the て-form; it requires the ます-stem.
• 4すった is the plain past form of すう. The すぎ pattern does not attach to the past form; it requires the ます-stem.

• 吸すう — to smoke, to inhale
• 〜すぎ — too much, excessive (attaches to V-ます stem: すい + すぎ = すいすぎ)

The correct answer is 4 (見え). The grammar pattern being tested is V-stem + にくい, meaning 'hard to ~' or 'difficult to ~'. The verb 見える (to be visible) has the stem 見え, giving 見えにくい = 'hard to see'. The sentence means: 'At night it is dark and people walking are hard to see, so I drive carefully.'

• 1見える is the dictionary form. You cannot attach にくい directly to the dictionary form; you must use the stem (見え).
• 2見えた is the past tense. The past form cannot connect to にくい.
• 3見えて is the te-form. The te-form would create a sequence ('being visible and then hard to...'), which is grammatically incorrect here. You need the stem, not the te-form.

• 見みえる — to be visible, to be seen
• 〜にくい — hard to ~, difficult to ~ (attached to a verb stem)
• 暗くらい — dark
• 運転うんてんする — to drive