Learning guides
Understand readings and expressions, then put them into practice with review and mock tests.
に限り: limiting people or dates in notices
Read conditions applying only to members or particular dates. Separate the restricted scope from permission or free admission, and compare に限らず and conditional 限り.
にわたって: the time or space an activity spans
Describe an activity extending over a period or area. Avoid overreading frequency or uninterrupted continuity, and learn noun-modifying にわたる.
を中心に: a central focus and the surrounding scope
Identify a person, place, or topic at the center of an activity. Explore a focus versus an exclusive limit, physical centers versus target groups, and noun-modifying forms.
をめぐって: discussion and disagreement surrounding an issue
Learn how multiple people exchange views on a shared issue. Distinguish a neutral topic or central focus, and check why discussion does not itself imply conflict or agreement.
上で: a prior step or conditions within an activity
Use the ta-form plus 上で for a prerequisite step and distinguish the dictionary-form use for an activity's perspective. Read a future sentence together with the preceding completion form.
上に: adding benefits or burdens in the same direction
Use 上に to add another evaluation pointing in the same direction. Check accumulated advantages or burdens, connecting forms, and the difference from contrast or action sequence.
以上は and からには: responsibilities following an accepted premise
Express duties or resolve based on something decided or acknowledged. Distinguish numerical 以上 and simple reasons, and check whether the resulting action is already complete.
一方で: comparing two coexisting aspects
Present advantages and disadvantages or different groups' activities side by side. Avoid reading causation or a time sequence, and distinguish 一方だ for a one-directional trend.
一方だ: a trend continuing in one direction
Use 一方だ for a continuing increase or decrease. Distinguish repeated actions from directional change, check the limits of evaluation and prediction, and compare 一方で.
際に and に際して: occasions for procedures and events
Read when an action is required in an instruction and actions taken on important occasions. Check noun and verb connections and relative timing without imposing an immediate before-or-after sequence.
楽しい and 面白い: enjoyable experiences and interesting subjects
Compare enjoyment in an experience with interest in a subject, and recognize that 面白い does not always mean funny.
寂しい and 悲しい: loneliness, absence, and sadness
Compare loneliness or desolation from absence with sadness about an event, including farewells where both feelings can overlap.
怖い and 危ない: fear and danger
Separate a feeling of fear from dangerous conditions, recognizing that the same object can receive either judgment for different reasons.
優しい and 易しい: kindness and ease with やさしい
Distinguish two spellings of やさしい through a person's manner and a task's difficulty, including explanations that are both gentle and easy.
難しい and 厳しい: difficult tasks and strict standards
Distinguish a difficult task from strict rules, and examine 厳しい with weather and schedules.
細い and 薄い: thin lines and thin layers
Distinguish slenderness from thickness using lines, string, and paper, and identify other senses of 薄い.
濃い and 薄い: strong flavors and deep colors
Compare the intensity of drinks and colors, checking the object rather than always translating 濃い as thick in texture.
広い and 狭い: room size and the range of choices
Compare available space with the range of choices or knowledge, distinguishing spaciousness from general size.
遠い and 近い: distance and approaching times
Compare reference points for distance with approaching events, and examine the structures 近い駅 and 駅の近く.
明るい and 暗い: light and atmosphere
Compare illumination with impressions of people or atmosphere, using context to distinguish a brightened expression from added light.
新しい, 古い, and 若い: newness and age
Distinguish a newly acquired item from an old one, and examine human age with 若い and 年を取る rather than treating 古い as a general word for elderly.
丸い and 四角い: round and four-sided shapes
Describe round and four-sided objects, without assuming that 四角い always specifies a perfect square.
便利 and 簡単: convenience and ease
Distinguish a useful, convenient tool from an easy procedure, including tools that are convenient but hard to learn.
大切 and 大事: valued people and important matters
Compare overlapping uses for value and importance, and distinguish another reading of 大事 from the expression お大事に.
必要 and 重要: requirements and importance
Distinguish what a purpose requires from what has importance, and recognize that unnecessary does not mean unimportant.
自由 and 暇: freedom of choice and available time
Distinguish freedom to choose from having available time, without mapping every sense of English free to one Japanese word.
安全 and 安心: safe conditions and peace of mind
Distinguish safe conditions from reduced worry, recognizing that feeling reassured does not itself establish safety.
上手 and 得意: demonstrated skill and personal strengths
Compare an evaluation of skill with an area of confidence, including subjects, particles, and self-descriptions.
下手 and 苦手: weak skills and uncomfortable situations
Distinguish poor skill from discomfort or aversion, including 苦手 with foods and people.
丈夫 and 元気: sturdiness and energy
Compare sturdy objects with human health and energy, and distinguish 元気がない from 丈夫ではない.