Learning guides
Understand readings and expressions, then put them into practice with review and mock tests.
再開 and 再生: resuming an activity and playing a recording
Compare resuming an interrupted class with playing a recording, keeping media playback distinct from a restarted meeting.
延期 and 延長: postponing a time and extending a duration
Compare moving a meeting to next week with adding time for questions, distinguishing a later start from a longer meeting.
待つ and 待機: waiting for something and standing by
Compare waiting for a friend’s arrival with a request to stand by for instructions, keeping readiness separate from completed work.
間隔 and 頻度: the gap between events and frequency
Compare gaps between bus departures with visits per month, without converting a frequency into a fixed gap or visit duration.
間隔 and 周期: a gap and a complete repeating cycle
Use a lamp alternating between on and off to distinguish the gap between changes from the time needed to return to the same phase.
毎日 and 連日: each day and a run of consecutive days
Compare a daily reading habit with an event running over consecutive days, including a future schedule using 連日.
いつも and 毎回: a usual habit and each occurrence
Compare a usual choice with today’s exception and questions asked in each class, identifying the reference for repetition.
よく and 多く: frequent actions and a large number of people
Compare one person’s frequent library visits with visits by many people, keeping frequency separate from head count.
時々 and たまに: occasional actions and rare occasions
Read occasional shop visits and infrequent visits by a friend without assigning a fixed count or percentage to either expression.
一度に and 一回: a batch together and one occurrence
Compare moving five sheets together with moving something once, separating the size of a batch from the number of actions.
何度も and 何度か: repeated emphasis and an unspecified few times
Compare repeated searching with several meetings, keeping an unspecified count separate from a stated numerical total.
もう一度 and また: one more request, again, and added information
Compare requesting another explanation, suggesting a later meeting, and using また to add a property to a description.
ずっと and しばらく: throughout a period and for a while
Compare staying somewhere throughout the morning with a request to wait for a while, without assuming permanence or a fixed number of minutes.
久しぶり and 初めて: a long gap and a first experience
Compare returning to a shop after a long gap with trying a dish for the first time, keeping the first experience tied to its object.
そろそろ and まもなく: approaching time to act and an event soon
Compare a suggestion to head back with an imminent train arrival announcement, without assigning either expression a fixed minute count.
やっと and ついに: after waiting and a culminating outcome
Compare solving a difficult problem with winning a championship and a machine failing, without treating ついに as inherently negative.
だんだん and 少しずつ: gradual change and small increments
Compare a sky growing gradually darker with adding water little by little, separating a changing state from incremental amounts.
同じ時刻 and 同時: matching clock times and one shared instant
Compare nine a.m. starts on different dates with simultaneous starts in two rooms, reading the date alongside the clock time.
段階 and 手順: the current stage and an ordered procedure
Compare a plan at the testing stage with a procedure that specifies switching off power first, distinguishing progress from a changed sequence.
過程 and 結果: the course of an activity and its outcome
Compare recording a production process with checking test results, without inferring a problem-free process from a favorable outcome.
進行 and 進歩: an activity in progress and improvement
Compare a meeting in progress with improved technology, keeping improvement separate from completion of the current work.
上旬, 中旬, and 下旬: three parts of a calendar month
Read days 1–10, 11–20, and 21 through the month’s end, allowing the final part to vary with the calendar month.
月末ごろ and 末日: around month-end and the last calendar day
Compare an arrival around month-end with a check on the last day of April, also reading 月末 in deadline wording.
当面 and ひとまず: a policy for the present and an initial action
Compare maintaining the current method for now with making an initial reservation, checking which follow-up action remains.
一時 and 一斉: temporary states and simultaneous group actions
Compare pausing music with three machines stopping together, distinguishing the duration of a stop from the group involved.
三十分前後 and 三十分以内: an approximate time and an upper limit
Compare a task taking around thirty minutes with a thirty-minute limit, separating an approximation from a strict maximum.
送信 and 受信: the sending time and the receiving time
Compare a sent-mail record with a received-mail record, keeping sending, receipt, and reading separate.
早める and 急ぐ: moving a planned time earlier and hurrying
Compare bringing a departure plan forward with hurrying preparations, keeping a changed schedule distinct from actual departure.
遅れる and 遅らせる: being delayed and causing a delay
Compare a delayed start with postponing departure, then read a forgotten reply without assuming every delay was intentional.
予定 and 見込み: a plan and an outlook based on current conditions
Compare a plan to send materials with a forecast of completion, distinguishing the planned date from the expected date when they differ.