N4 Vocabulary · Test 8

やくそく（約束）means a 'promise' or 'arrangement' between people. Option 2 says 'Tomorrow I have a やくそく (arrangement/promise) to go shopping with my mother.' This is the correct usage — it describes a mutual agreement between two people to do something together.

• 1An airplane schedule is not a 'promise.' A plane arriving at 10 is a fact about its schedule (よてい / 予定), not a やくそく. Airplanes don't make promises.
• 3Making a train ticket reservation is よやく（予約）, not やくそく（約束）. These two words look and sound similar but have different meanings: 予約 = reservation, 約束 = promise.
• 4You would explain the schedule or plan (よてい / 予定) of a study tour, not its 'promise.' やくそくをせつめいする ('explain a promise') does not fit this context.

• やくそく — promise, arrangement (between people)
• よやく — reservation, booking
• よてい — schedule, plan

おれい（お礼）means 'gratitude' or 'thanks.' Option 1 says 'I received a souvenir, so I said おれい (thanks).' おれいを言う is a common phrase meaning 'to express gratitude,' so this is correct.

• 2When you are hospitalized, a friend comes to visit you — that is おみまい（お見舞い）, a visit to someone who is sick/injured. おれいに来る ('comes as thanks') does not make sense here.
• 3You buy a プレゼント (present) for a birthday, not an おれい. おれい is gratitude/thanks, not a birthday gift.
• 4Saying 'しつれいします' and then entering a room is an あいさつ（挨拶）, a greeting. おれいをしてから ('after doing thanks') does not fit the act of entering a room.

• おれい（おれい（お礼）） — gratitude, thanks
• おみまい（おみまい（お見舞い）） — visit to someone who is sick/injured
• あいさつ — greeting

ていねい（丁寧）means 'polite' or 'careful/courteous.' Option 1 says 'People at department stores and hotels use ていねいな (polite) words.' ていねいなことば = polite language, which is a correct and natural usage.

• 2A restaurant can be 高級（こうきゅう）or きれい, but not ていねいな. ていねい describes manner or language, not a place's class or quality.
• 3Asking a woman her age is 失礼（しつれい）, 'rude' or 'impolite' in a social sense. ていねいではない means 'not careful/polite in manner,' which is a different nuance. The issue here is social appropriateness (失礼), not the carefulness of one's manner (ていねい).
• 4Taste (あじ) can be described as こい（濃い, strong）or うすい（薄い, light）, but not ていねい. ていねい does not apply to flavors.

• ていねい — polite, courteous, careful
• しつれい — rude, impolite (socially inappropriate)

ぬれる（濡れる）means 'to get wet' — used when water or liquid physically touches and soaks something. Option 3 says 'The laundry got wet from the rain.' Rain making laundry wet is a perfect usage of ぬれる.

• 1Chocolate makes your hands dirty — that is よごれる（汚れる）, 'to get dirty,' not ぬれる. Chocolate is not a liquid that makes things wet in the same way water does.
• 2Air can be humid — that is しめっている（湿っている）, 'to be humid/damp.' ぬれる is used for solid objects getting wet, not for air.
• 4A melon being juicy is described as みずみずしい, 'fresh and juicy.' ぬれていて ('is wet') is not used for the juiciness of fruit.

• ぬれる（ぬれる（濡れる）） — to get wet (by water/liquid)
• よごれる（よごれる（汚れる）） — to get dirty
• みずみずしい — fresh and juicy

わかす（沸かす）means 'to boil water' — to heat water until it boils. Option 4 says 'I'll make tea, so please わかして (boil) some water.' Boiling water for tea is exactly what わかす means.

• 1Warming up your body before exercise is described with ほぐす ('to loosen up') or ウォームアップする. わかす is specifically for boiling water, not for warming up a body.
• 2Eggs are boiled with ゆでる（茹でる）, not わかす. わかす means to boil water itself; when you cook eggs in boiling water, the verb is ゆでる.
• 3Warming a room with a stove is あたためる（暖める）, 'to warm (a space/object).' わかす is for boiling water, not for warming a room.

• わかす（わかす（沸かす）） — to boil (water)
• ゆでる（ゆでる（茹でる）） — to boil (food, e.g. eggs, vegetables)
• あたためる（あたためる（暖める）） — to warm (a room, object, etc.)

The correct reading for 味 is 「あじ」. The sentence means 'The taste is a bit strange.'

• 1「こえ」(声) means 'voice' and uses the kanji 声.
• 3「おと」(音) means 'sound' and uses the kanji 音.
• 4「におい」(匂い/臭い) means 'smell' and uses different kanji.

• 味あじ — taste, flavor

The correct reading for 世界 is 「せかい」. The sentence means 'This building is the tallest in the world.'

• 1「せいがい」is an incorrect reading for this kanji compound.
• 2「せいかい」is an incorrect reading. Note that 正解 is read as せいかい, which might be the source of this distractor.
• 3「せがい」is an incorrect reading.

• 世界せかい — the world

The correct reading for 考えて is 「かんがえて」. The sentence means 'Tanaka-san thought about it for me.'

• 1「かぞえて」(数えて) means 'counting'.
• 2「こたえて」(答えて) means 'answering'.
• 4「つたえて」(伝えて) means 'conveying/telling'.

• 考かんがえる — to think, consider

The correct reading for 足りません is 「たりません」. The sentence means 'I wanted to buy a dictionary, but I didn't have enough money.'

• 2「あしりません」is an incorrect reading. While 足 can be read as 「あし」(foot), the verb 足りる (to be sufficient) is read as 「たりる」.
• 3「たしりません」is an incorrect reading.
• 4「ありません」(有りません) means 'do not have/exist', which is a different word entirely.

• 足たりる — to be sufficient, to be enough

The correct reading for 体 is 「からだ」. The sentence means 'Everyone in my family is physically strong/healthy.'

• 1「かたら」is an incorrect reading.
• 2「からた」is an incorrect reading.
• 3「かだら」is an incorrect reading.

• 体からだ — body