N4 Vocabulary · Test 76

The word あかるく is the adverbial form of あかるい (明るい, 'bright'). The correct kanji is 明, giving 明るく. Option 1 correctly writes this. The sentence means 'The wind died down and the sky became bright.'

• 2月日るく is not a valid kanji writing. It appears to be a garbled transcription — 月日 are the components of 明 (日 + 月), but written separately they do not form the kanji 明.
• 3赤るく is not valid. 赤 is read あか ('red'), and while あかるく and あか share the initial あか sound, 赤るく is not a real word. This is a deliberate phonetic distractor.
• 4赤字上面三行るく is not a valid kanji writing. This appears to be a garbled transcription or textual description of a kanji component.

• 明あかるい — bright, well-lit, cheerful
• 風かぜ — wind
• そら — sky

かった is the past tense of かう (買う), meaning 'to buy.' The sentence says Yamada-san bought a watch at a department store, so 買った is correct. 買 (ばい/かう) means 'to buy.'

• 1売った (うった) is the past tense of 売る (うる), meaning 'sold.' This is the opposite action — Yamada-san bought, not sold.
• 3置った is not standard. 置く (おく) means 'to put/place,' and its past tense is 置いた (おいた), not 置った. This is a distractor using a lookalike kanji.
• 4貸った is not standard. 貸す (かす) means 'to lend,' and its past tense is 貸した (かした), not 貸った. This is a distractor using a lookalike kanji.

• 買かう — to buy
• 買かった — bought (past tense)
• 売うる — to sell
• 貸かす — to lend

安心 is read あんしん (an-shin), meaning 'peace of mind' or 'relief.' The kanji 安 is read あん and 心 is read しん. Option 4 correctly gives this reading.

• 1しいぱい is not a valid reading for any common word. It appears to be a scrambled version of しんぱい.
• 2しんぱい (心配) means 'worry/anxiety' — the opposite of 安心. This is a deliberate distractor using the same 心 kanji.
• 3あんしい is an incorrect reading. The kanji 心 is read しん (on'yomi) here, not しい.

• 安心あんしん — peace of mind, relief, reassurance

ふかい (深い) means 'deep.' The sentence says 'This river is very ____, so it's dangerous.' A deep river is dangerous because you could drown, so ふかい fits perfectly.

• 1あさい (浅い) means 'shallow.' A shallow river is not dangerous, so this contradicts the second clause.
• 3ひくい (低い) means 'low' (height). This describes the height of objects or places, not the depth of a river.
• 4たかい (高い) means 'high/tall.' This describes height, not the depth of water in a river.

• 深ふかい — deep
• 浅あさい — shallow
• 低ひくい — low
• 高たかい — high, tall
• 危険きけん — dangerous

The word じゅうしょ means 'address,' and the correct kanji writing is 住所. 住 is read じゅう (on'yomi) and 所 is read しょ (on'yomi). Option 2 correctly writes this. The sentence means 'Please teach me how to write addresses in Japanese.'

• 1任所 is not a valid word. 任 (にん, 'responsibility/duty') looks similar to 住 (じゅう) but is a different kanji with a different meaning. This is a deliberate lookalike distractor.
• 3彳主 is not a valid kanji or word. It appears to be a garbled transcription — 彳 is the radical (ぎょうにんべん) of 住, and 主 is the phonetic component, but written separately they do not form the kanji 住.
• 4往所 is not a valid word. 往 (おう, 'to go/to proceed') shares the same radical as 住 and looks similar, but it is a different kanji. This is a deliberate lookalike distractor.

• 住所じゅうしょ — address
• かきかた — way of writing, how to write
• おしえる — to teach, to tell

Option 2 (よる) is correct. 夜 (よる) means 'night' as a standalone noun. The sentence says 'Telephone charges are cheaper at night and on Sundays.'

• 1ひる (昼) means 'daytime/noon,' the opposite of what is needed.
• 3あさ (朝) means 'morning,' a different time of day.
• 4ばん is a possible reading of 夜 in some compounds (e.g., 今夜 こんや), but as a standalone word, 夜 is read よる, not ばん.

• 夜よる — night

Option 4 (あいだ) is correct. In 夜の間 (よるのあいだ), 間 is read あいだ and means 'during/while/the interval.' The phrase 夜の間 means 'during the night.' As a standalone noun, 間 is most commonly read あいだ.

• 1うち can mean 'while/during' in certain grammar patterns (e.g., 夜のうちに), but it is not a reading of the kanji 間.
• 2ま is a valid reading of 間 in words like 間に合う (まにあう) or 間 (ま, 'interval/space'), but in this context 夜の間, the reading is あいだ.
• 3かん is a valid on-yomi of 間 used in compounds like 人間 (にんげん) or 時間 (じかん), but as a standalone word here it is read あいだ.

• 間あいだ — interval/during (the time between)

安い is read やすい, meaning 'cheap' (inexpensive). Option 4 matches exactly.

• 1あまい (甘い) means 'sweet' — a different adjective with similar-looking hiragana ending in 〜い.
• 2うまい (上手い/旨い) means 'good/skillful' or 'tasty' — unrelated to 安い.
• 3ちかい (近い) means 'near/close' — another i-adjective with the same ending but different meaning.

• 安やすい — cheap, inexpensive

町 is read まち here, meaning 'town'. In the sentence この町の人口は…, まち is the standard reading for 'town'.

• 1むら (村) means 'village' — a valid reading of a different kanji (村), not 町.
• 3とし (都市) means 'city' — uses the kanji 都市, not 町.
• 4へん (辺) means 'area/vicinity' — unrelated kanji 辺.

• 町まち — town
• 人口じんこう — population
• 去年きょねん — last year

人口 is read じんこう, meaning 'population'. The kanji 人 has the on'yomi ジン here and 口 has the on'yomi コウ.

• 2にんこう uses the on'yomi ニン for 人, which is wrong in this compound; the correct reading is ジン.
• 3にんごう has both the wrong reading for 人 and a wrong long-vowel rendering for 口 (ごう instead of こう).
• 4じんごう has the correct 人 reading but the wrong vowel for 口 (ごう instead of こう).

• 人口じんこう — population