Learning guides
Understand readings and expressions, then put them into practice with review and mock tests.
見る, 見える, and 見せる: looking, being visible, and showing
Distinguish a deliberate act of looking from something being visible and from showing something to another person. Track what を, が, and に mark in each sentence.
聞く and 聞こえる: listen, ask, or hear naturally
Compare deliberate listening and asking with a sound that reaches your ears. Also distinguish 聞こえる from the potential form 聞ける.
知る and 分かる: know information or understand it
Separate coming to know something from the resulting state of knowing it, then compare both with understanding a meaning or situation. Learn 知っている and 知らない as a pair.
覚える and 忘れる: retain something or forget it
Distinguish putting something into memory with 覚える, losing a memory or forgetting something that needs to be done with 忘れる, and retrieving a memory with 思い出す.
借りる and 貸す: borrower's and lender's viewpoints
Describe one transfer from either the borrower’s or the lender’s viewpoint. Check how the role of a person marked by に changes with the verb.
教える, 習う, and 学ぶ: teach, learn from, and study
Separate giving instruction, receiving lessons from someone, and learning through study or experience. Track the particles for the person and the subject matter.
着る, 履く, and 被る: choose a verb by body area
Japanese divides actions covered by English wear according to where an item is worn. Also distinguish putting an item on from the resulting state expressed with ている.
乗る and 降りる: particles for getting on and off
Contrast moving onto a vehicle with moving out of it. Learn vehicle に with 乗る, vehicle を with 降りる, and place で for the boarding or alighting point.
持つ and 運ぶ: hold something or transport it
Distinguish holding or possessing with 持つ from moving an item to another place with 運ぶ. Read the direction of 持っていく and 持ってくる from the conversational reference point.
早い and 速い: early timing or high speed
Both words are read はやい, but 早い concerns early timing or a short delay, while 速い concerns high speed. Use context to interpret 遅い and the adverb はやく as well.
暑い, 熱い, and 厚い: heat, temperature, or thickness
The three words are all read あつい. Distinguish heat in weather or a room, the high temperature of an object, and physical thickness, while checking context in figurative or overlapping uses.
寒い and 冷たい: cold surroundings or a cold object
Distinguish 寒い for cold weather and surroundings from 冷たい for the temperature of a specific object or a cold manner. Both can appear in the same scene because they describe different perspectives.
暖かい and 温かい: warm surroundings, objects, and feelings
Both words are read あたたかい. Learn their common associations with climate and surroundings or with food, touch, and kindness, without treating the spellings as completely separate in every context.
高い, 低い, and 安い: height, level, and price
Compare how 高い and 低い describe height, numerical values, or levels, and how 高い and 安い evaluate price. Since 低い can also describe a low price in some contexts, do not memorize only one opposite for 高い.
大きい and 多い: size or quantity
Distinguish 大きい for the size or scale of something from 多い for a large number, amount, or frequency. Do not translate every use of English big or large with the same Japanese adjective.
少ない and 少し: a small amount or doing a little
Distinguish the adjective 少ない, which evaluates a number or amount as small, from 少し, which expresses a small quantity, degree, or duration. Context also determines whether English needs few or little, or the more positive a little or some.
強い and 弱い: strength, resistance, and ability
Use context to interpret 強い and 弱い across physical force, resistance to weather or stimuli, ability in a field, and the intensity of a smell or effect.
重い and 軽い: weight, burden, and severity
See how the physical opposites 重い and 軽い extend to responsibility, symptoms, exercise, and attitude. The surrounding noun shows whether the sentence concerns weight, burden, intensity, or severity.
深い and 浅い: depth, understanding, and state
Use 深い and 浅い for literal depth in water or holes and for degrees of understanding, relationships, sleep, and breathing. Check which scale the noun provides.
硬い, 固い, and 堅い: tendencies among three かたい spellings
Compare common uses of 硬い for resistance to deformation, 固い for a set or fixed state, and 堅い for robustness or reliability. Since their usage overlaps, treat these as tendencies rather than absolute divisions.
直す, 治す, 直る, and 治る: matching readings, different domains
Separate 直 for repairing objects or correcting errors from 治 for curing illnesses or healing injuries. Learn the action of fixing something and the change of something recovering together with their particles.
開ける and 開く: distinguishing あける, あく, and ひらく
Even with the same character 開, the verb and reading vary according to whether a door or container opens, a book is spread open, or a gathering is held. Learn representative combinations while checking the meaning where contexts overlap.
閉める, 締める, 閉まる, and 締まる: closing or tightening
Separate 閉 for closing a door or shop from 締 for tightening a cord, belt, or screw. See how the object and resulting state distinguish words pronounced しめる or しまる.
つく and つける: attachment, connection, and switching on
Separate something being attached or included, attaching something to a target, and a light or device switching on. Learn each use with concrete nouns and particles.
出る and 出す: leave, take out, attend, or submit
Follow 出る and 出す from movement out of a place to attending meetings, taking out objects, and submitting documents. Focus on the nouns and the role of each particle.
入る and 入れる: enter, put in, and be included
Compare a person or object entering with someone putting an object inside. Apply the pair to spaces, capacity, ingredients, groups, and schedules.
上がる and 上げる: rise or raise positions and values
Compare upward movement with changes in temperature, price, and volume. Also distinguish を marking a route from を marking something that is raised.
下がる and 下げる: fall, lower, or step back
Separate a position or value becoming lower from an influence that lowers it. Also learn where 下がる means stepping back and where another movement verb is more natural.
落ちる and 落とす: falling, losing, and removing stains
Start with something falling and something being dropped, then follow the verbs into everyday meanings involving lost items, failed tests, and laundry.
壊れる and 壊す: break down or cause loss of function
Distinguish a machine or object ceasing to work from a cause damaging it. Accidents and natural forces can be causes, so the contrast does not by itself establish intent.