Learning guides
Understand readings and expressions, then put them into practice with review and mock tests.
ずつ and ごとに: shares and recurring intervals
Distinguish each person's share, gradual progress, and repetition at regular intervals.
方: turning an action into a noun for its method
Add 方 to a verb's ます-stem and track the particle changes that come with a noun phrase.
し: adding reasons and characteristics
See how し builds an evaluation from several points, and compare it with たり for examples of activities.
たがる and ほしがる: describing another person's wishes
Separate an observed desire to act from a desire for an object, and distinguish wanting from actually doing.
そうになる: reaching the brink of an event
Distinguish the near occurrence in そうになった from actual completion and a simple prediction.
にしては: an unexpected evaluation against a known condition
Separate the benchmark from a surprising result, and compare にしては with expectation-matching だけあって.
代わりに: accepting one thing in return for another
Read tradeoffs and substitutions, and distinguish them from the simpler contrast expressed by けど.
末に: a result reached after a lengthy process
Compare the weight of a process in 末に with the simple time sequence in 後で.
をきっかけに: the event that starts a change
Distinguish presenting an event as a starting point from simply explaining a reason.
に限る: the choice the speaker considers best
Understand a strong personal preference without mistaking it for a restriction or official obligation.
ながらも: acknowledging a fact and a contrasting evaluation
Distinguish concessive ながらも from simultaneous ながら and read a contrast that does not deny the initial fact.
にしても: a requirement that survives an accepted premise
Read a judgment that remains valid even when a situation is accepted, without turning an assumption into an established fact.
とはいえ: an accepted fact with a reservation
Learn how とはいえ acknowledges a fact and then adds a qualification or exception.
だけのことはある: effort that proved worthwhile
Evaluate a result as worth the effort already invested, and compare it with だけあって for an expected quality.
羽目になる: ending up in an unwelcome situation
Recognize dissatisfaction or difficulty in an outcome and distinguish it from the more neutral ことになる.
ずじまい: an opportunity ending without the intended action
Describe an intention left unrealized, and distinguish it from a negative statement that leaves the opportunity open.
ないことには: a prerequisite for the next judgment
Read a necessary preliminary condition without assuming that satisfying it guarantees the result.
までもない: no need to go that far
Distinguish judging an action unnecessary for the situation from forbidding it or declaring it impossible.
とのことだ: relaying information received
Distinguish passing on news from another person or organization from direct observation or your own inference.
ということは and ということだ: inference and interpretation
Compare drawing a conclusion from a fact with explaining what information means, while preserving the degree of uncertainty.
話す and 言う: conversation and utterances
Distinguish having a conversation from saying particular words.
読む and 書く: reading and writing
Distinguish reading content, writing location, and understanding.
頼む and 願う: requests and wishes
Compare requesting an action with wishing for an outcome.
謝る and 感謝する: apology and gratitude
Distinguish the fault apologized for from the help appreciated.
褒める and 注意する: praise and caution
Compare praise with being careful or cautioning someone.
誘う and 断る: invitations and refusals
Use verb forms to identify who invited and who refused.
選ぶ and 比べる: comparison and selection
Distinguish examining differences from choosing an option.
調べる and 発見する: investigation and discovery
Separate examining something from a discovery.
記録 and 記憶: records and memory
Distinguish an external record from a person's memory.
語る and 話す: telling experiences
Compare 語る for telling experiences or thoughts with the broader verb 話す.