Lesson 24
Bonus B — Sentence Building & Suffixes
- 1 〜というか ~to iu ka or rather Talking while you hunt for the right word — "kind, or rather… soft".
- 2 〜は…ことだ ~wa ...koto da what X is, is to "What matters is to keep going every day" — pinning down the key thing.
- 3 〜との・での・からの・への N ~to no / de no / kara no / e no N particle + の before a noun "A talk with the teacher", "life in Japan" — の that hooks a particle onto a noun.
- 4 〜を…として ~o ...to shite with ~ as Assigning a role — "with Tanaka as leader".
- 5 〜を中心に ~o chuushin ni centred on That in the middle, the rest around it — "spread out with the cities at the centre".
- 6 〜をはじめ ~o hajime starting with The main example first, then the rest — "the manager and everyone else".
- 7 あまり(に)〜 amari (ni) ~ so ~ that N5's "not very" flips to "too much" — an excess with a consequence.
- 8 なかなか〜ない nakanaka ~nai not easily I keep trying, but it just won't — the frustrated "not easily".
- 9 〜通す ~toosu do all the way through Without stopping, start to finish — "I worked straight through the night".
- 10 〜上がる・上げる ~agaru / ~ageru be finished / finish up "The report's written", "the food's ready" — a matched pair for completion.
- 11 〜たて ~tate freshly Freshly baked bread, a brand-new friend — the label of freshness.
- 12 〜らしい〔せいしつ〕 ~rashii typical of / -like Not N4's hearsay — the らしい of "manly", "spring-like": having the typical qualities.
- 13 髪／目／形をしている kami / me / katachi o shite iru has ~ hair / eyes / shape The set pattern for describing how someone or something looks — "has long hair".
- 14 どちらかと言えば、〜ほうだ dochira ka to ieba, ~hou da if anything, rather "Not exactly, but if I had to say, this way" — a soft self-description.
Lesson check
All 14 forms of this lesson together — pick the right one from its look-alikes, the way the exam does. 6/8 completes the lesson.
🔒
「家族＿手紙が届いて、とてもうれしかった。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:Where did the letter come from?
Noun + からの + noun = a … from …. をはじめ, として and を中心に can't link straight onto a noun like this.
「店長＿、店のみんなが手伝ってくれた。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:The key person first, then everyone else.
Noun + をはじめ = starting with … (the main example first). として means "as", which doesn't fit here.
「田中さんをリーダー＿、新しいチームを作った。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:What role was Tanaka given?
N1を N2として = with N1 as N2. There's already a を, so を中心に or をはじめ would double it.
「日本語が上手になるために大切なのは、毎日続ける＿。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:大切なのは — "what matters is…"
〜のは … dictionary form + ことだ = what matters is to …. ほうだ means "tend to be" and doesn't pair with のは.
「漢字が＿覚えられない。毎日練習しているのに。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:毎日練習しているのに — I keep trying, but…
なかなか + potential negative = it just won't, however hard you try. せっかく is about wasted effort (せっかく覚えたのに), and どちらかと言えば goes with ほうだ to describe what you're like.
「私は、どちらかと言えば静かな＿。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:What is the partner of どちらかと言えば?
どちらかと言えば〜ほうだ = if anything, I'm the … type. 形をしている describes physical shape, not character.
「合格の知らせを聞いて、うれしさの＿、泣いてしまった。」— fill the blank.
💡 Hint:So much feeling that something happened.
Feeling noun + のあまり = out of sheer …. たて attaches to the ます-stem, and ほう or こと make no sense here.
Which sentence is unnatural?
💡 Hint:上がる vs 上げる — which one takes を?
上げる is transitive (Xを書き上げる) and 上がる intransitive (Xが書き上がる), so "レポートが書き上げた" doesn't work.
Your score: /8