N4 Grammar · Test 60

The correct answer is 4 (集めて). The grammar pattern is V-te + おく, meaning 'to do something in preparation / for a purpose'. The verb 集める (to gather/collect, transitive) has the te-form 集めて, giving 集めておいてください = 'please gather (the trash) and keep it (for later disposal)'. The sentence means: 'I'll throw it away later, so please gather the trash (and set it aside).'

• 1集まる is the intransitive form ('to gather' on its own). It is the wrong verb type here — the trash needs to be gathered by someone (transitive 集める), and it is also not in the te-form required before おく.
• 2集める is the correct transitive verb, but it is in the dictionary form. You need the te-form (集めて) before おく.
• 3集まって is the te-form of the intransitive verb 集まる. Even though it is a te-form, the verb is intransitive ('things gather by themselves'), which does not fit the context of someone gathering trash.

• 集あつめる — to gather, to collect (transitive)
• 集あつまる — to gather, to assemble (intransitive)
• 〜ておく — to do something in advance / for a purpose; to leave something as-is
• 捨すてる — to throw away

The sentence means 'My father says funny things and often makes everyone laugh.' The structure みんなを + causative verb is needed: を marks the people being made to laugh, and the causative form of 笑う (わらう, 'to laugh') is 笑わせる (わらわせる, 'to make someone laugh'). This fits perfectly: みんなをわらわせる ('makes everyone laugh').

• 2わらいたい (笑いたい) means 'want to laugh.' With を it would mean 'I want to laugh at everyone,' which doesn't match the context of the father making others laugh.
• 3わらわれる (笑われる) is the passive form of 笑う, meaning 'to be laughed at.' This would mean 'everyone is laughed at,' which doesn't fit the causative meaning needed here.
• 4わらえる is not a standard conjugation of 笑う. The potential form would be 笑える (わらえる), meaning 'can laugh,' but it doesn't fit the みんなを causative structure required by the sentence.

• 笑わらう — to laugh
• 笑わらわせる — to make someone laugh (causative of わらう)
• 笑わらわれる — to be laughed at (passive of わらう)

The pattern 〜そうです (hearsay, 'I heard that〜') attaches to the plain form of a verb. Since らいしゅう ('next week') indicates a future event, the plain non-past form ある is correct: おまつりがあるそうです ('I heard there will be a festival').

• 1あって is the て-form of ある. The て-form cannot directly precede そう in the hearsay pattern; そう requires the plain form.
• 2あるだろう includes だろう, which is already a conjectural ending. You cannot attach そう (hearsay) to だろう; the pattern is simply plain form + そう.
• 3あった is the plain past form, which would mean 'I heard there was a festival.' But らいしゅう ('next week') indicates a future event, so the past form is inconsistent.

• 〜そうです — I heard that〜 / they say that〜 (hearsay; attaches to plain form)
• おまつり — festival
• らいしゅう — next week

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 correct answer is 4 (くれた). The sentence is 兄が私にくれたんです ('My older brother gave it to me'). くれる is used when someone gives something TO the speaker (or the speaker's in-group). Here, 兄 (older brother) is the giver and 私 (me, the speaker) is the receiver, so くれた is the correct verb. The ～んです adds explanatory nuance ('the reason I have this nice dictionary is that my brother gave it to me').

• 1いただいた is the humble form of receiving (もらう). It would require the speaker as subject: 私が兄にいただいた ('I received from my brother'). But here the subject is 兄が, so いただいた does not fit.
• 2もらった means 'received.' With 兄が私にもらった, it would mean 'my brother received from me' — the opposite of the intended meaning.
• 3あげた means 'gave (to someone else).' While 兄が私にあげた is grammatically possible, あげる is used when the speaker gives to others, not when someone gives to the speaker. Using あげる for giving to the speaker is pragmatically inappropriate; くれる is the correct choice.

• くれる — someone gives something to the speaker
• もらう — to receive
• あげる — to give (to someone other than the speaker)
• いただく — humble form of もらう (to receive)
• 兄あに — older brother