What's Next: Towards N4
If you've worked through all nineteen chapters, you've covered the grammar and vocabulary core of JLPT N5. This final page is your mirror: check what you can do, see how the exam itself works, and peek at the road ahead.
Your N5 can-do checklist
Read each statement. If you can honestly tick it, that chapter has done its job — if not, the link takes you straight back for another pass.
- I can read every hiragana, including small kana and long vowels — ch. 1
- I can read katakana and recognise my first kanji — ch. 2
- I can greet people at any time of day and introduce myself — ch. 3
- I can build A-is-B sentences with です and negate them — ch. 4
- I can ask questions with か and the N5 question words — ch. 5
- I can point at things with これ・それ・あれ and link nouns with の — ch. 6
- I can count to 10,000 and use the right counters — ch. 7
- I can say the day, the date and the time — ch. 8
- I can pick the right particle: を, に, で, へ, と, も — ch. 9
- I can identify a verb's group and form ます／ません — ch. 10
- I can talk about the past with ました and use まだ／もう — ch. 11
- I can build the て-form and make requests with ください — ch. 12
- I can say where things are with あります／います — ch. 13
- I can conjugate い-adjectives through all four forms — ch. 14
- I can do the same for な-adjectives — ch. 15
- I can compare things with より and いちばん — ch. 16
- I can say what I want, invite people, and give reasons — ch. 17
- I can shop, order and ask prices politely — ch. 18
- I can make weather small-talk and explain symptoms — ch. 19
What the JLPT N5 exam looks like
The JLPT is a paper-based, multiple-choice exam held twice a year (July and December) in Japan and many other countries. N5 has three graded sections:
| Section | Time | What it tests |
|---|---|---|
| Language knowledge (vocabulary) | 20 min | Kanji readings, word meanings |
| Language knowledge (grammar) & reading | 40 min | Particles, conjugation, short passages |
| Listening | 30 min | Short everyday conversations |
Scoring is scaled: 180 points total, with a pass mark of 80 — plus minimum thresholds in each section, so you can't ignore listening and pass on grammar alone. There is no speaking or writing section at any JLPT level.
What N4 adds: a tasting menu
N4 roughly doubles everything — around 1,500 words and 300 kanji — and unlocks the grammar that makes Japanese feel fluid. The headline acts:
- Plain form — the dictionary, ない, and た forms that friends use instead of です／ます: 行く・行かない・行った
- ～ている — actions in progress and ongoing states: パンを食べています ("I am eating bread")
- Potential form — "can" built into the verb: 日本語が話せます ("I can speak Japanese")
- ～たり～たり — listing sample activities: 読んだり書いたりします ("I do things like reading and writing")
- Giving and receiving — あげる・くれる・もらう, the famously perspective-driven trio
- Conditionals — と, ば and たら, three flavours of "if"
Every one of these builds directly on the て-form and conjugation machinery you learned in chapters 10-12 — you are closer than you think.
How to keep going
Three habits carry learners from N5 to N4:
- Spaced repetition. Review vocabulary right before you'd forget it. If you play Noun Town, the free Link account backs up your progress and lets you revise your learned words in the browser with a built-in SRS.
- Daily contact beats weekend binges. Fifteen minutes every day — one game lesson, one chapter re-read, one quiz — outperforms a three-hour Sunday session.
- Listen early, listen often. The JLPT listening section sinks crammers. Replay the game lessons with the audio, shadow the lines aloud, and let the rhythm settle in.
More practice in the game
Four favourites spanning the course — introduce yourself, order a coffee, compare things, and say what you want.
JLPT exam day
Exam day in Japan has its own ritual: doors close exactly on time, phones go into envelopes, and pencils (not pens) rule — bring two HB pencils and a plastic eraser. Your test voucher photo is checked at the door. Between sections there are short breaks; most centres are university campuses, so arrive early and find your room first. And when it's over, the December tradition is simple: results in late January, and a celebratory bowl of ramen either way.
Test yourself
Six light questions spanning the whole N5 course — one per major area.
6 quick questions on this chapter.
Your score
Common questions
Quick answers about this chapter's grammar.
When is the JLPT held?
Twice a year, on the first Sunday of July and December, in Japan and dozens of other countries. Registration closes months early — around March/April for July and August/September for December — so check jlpt.jp well ahead.
Can I skip N5 and take N4 directly?
Yes — the JLPT has no prerequisites, and many self-studiers sit N4 or N3 first. N5 is still worth taking if you want exam practice, a confidence milestone, or proof of progress for a school or employer.
How many words and kanji does N4 need?
Roughly 1,500 words and 300 kanji, compared with about 800 words and 100 kanji at N5. The grammar list roughly doubles too — but it's mostly extensions of the て-form and conjugation systems you already know.
Does the JLPT test speaking?
No. Every JLPT level is multiple-choice: vocabulary, grammar, reading and listening only. If you want certified speaking practice, look at exams like the J.TEST or simply keep talking — the game's dialogues are a good shadowing script.
Want more practice? Browse all free Japanese lessons or look words up in the Japanese dictionary.