Japanese Grammar for the JLPT: A Guide From N5 to N1
By the Kantan JLPT team · · 13 min read
Quick answer: Japanese grammar is built on a few big ideas: the verb comes at the end, small particles after each word show its role, and verbs and adjectives change form to show tense, negation and politeness. N5 and N4 cover these foundations; N3 to N1 add hundreds of set expressions with fine shades of meaning. The JLPT tests grammar by asking you to pick the right form, put sentence pieces in order, and fill gaps in a short text.
How do Japanese sentences work?
If you're coming from English, Japanese grammar can look backwards at first. Once you see the few principles behind it, it becomes surprisingly consistent.
The verb comes last
Japanese is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language. Where English says "I eat sushi," Japanese says "I sushi eat":
わたしは すしを たべます。
Watashi wa sushi o tabemasu. I eat sushi.
Whatever else happens in the sentence, the main verb (or adjective, or です) sits at the end. That's also where negation and tense live, so you often don't know whether a sentence is positive or negative until the last word.
Particles do the work of word order
Because the verb is fixed at the end, the other parts can move around fairly freely. Small words called particles follow each noun and mark its job: topic, subject, object, place, time, and so on. すしを わたしは たべます is unusual, but it still means "I eat sushi" because を still marks the sushi.
Leave out what's obvious
Japanese drops anything the listener can work out from context, especially "I" and "you." たべました on its own can mean "I ate," "she ate" or "we ate," depending on the situation. There are also no articles (a, the) and nouns usually don't change for plural.
Descriptions come before the noun
Adjectives, and even whole clauses, go before the noun they describe:
きのう かった ほん
kinō katta hon the book (I) bought yesterday
Politeness is built into the grammar
The same verb has different forms depending on who you're talking to:
| Level | "eat" | Used with |
|---|---|---|
| Plain (casual) | たべる | friends, family, and in many grammar patterns |
| Polite | たべます | strangers, coworkers, most textbook dialogues |
| Honorific (respectful) | めしあがる | raising someone else's actions, e.g. a customer or boss |
| Humble | いただく | lowering your own actions |
Beginners mostly use the polite ます/です forms. The JLPT starts testing plain forms early, because so many grammar patterns attach to them, and honorific language (keigo) becomes important from N4 upward.
What are the main Japanese particles?
Particles are where beginners make the most mistakes, and they're tested at every level. These are the core ones:
| Particle | Main job | Example |
|---|---|---|
| は (wa) | Topic: "as for…" | わたしは がくせいです。 |
| が | Subject, new information | だれが きましたか。 |
| を (o) | Direct object | みずを のみます。 |
| に | Time, destination, where something is | しちじに おきます。 |
| で | Where an action happens, means | バスで いきます。 |
| へ (e) | Direction | にほんへ いきます。 |
| と | "And" between nouns, "with" | ともだちと はなします。 |
| の | Possession, linking nouns | わたしの ほん |
| も | "Also, too" | わたしも いきます。 |
| から / まで | From / until | くじから ごじまで |
| か | Question marker | わかりますか。 |
| よ / ね | Sentence-ending: "you know" / "right?" | いいですね。 |
The two pairs that cause the most trouble get their own guides: wa vs ga (は vs が) and ni vs de (に vs で).
How do Japanese verbs and conjugation work?
Japanese verbs don't change for person ("I eat," "he eats" are the same) but they do change for tense, negation, politeness and many other meanings. The good news: the system is very regular.
Three verb groups
Every verb belongs to one of three groups, and the group decides how it conjugates:
- U-verbs (group 1): かく (write), のむ (drink), かえる (go home)
- Ru-verbs (group 2): たべる (eat), みる (see)
- Irregular verbs (group 3): just する (do) and くる (come)
Learning to sort verbs correctly, including the tricky る-ending u-verbs like かえる and はいる, is covered in Japanese verb groups.
The forms you'll need
Here's how one u-verb, かく (write), changes across the forms you'll meet from N5 to N4:
| Form | かく (write) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary (plain) | かく | write |
| Masu (polite) | かきます | write (polite) |
| Nai (negative) | かかない | don't write |
| Ta (past) | かいた | wrote |
| Te | かいて | write and…, used in many patterns |
| Potential | かける | can write |
| Volitional | かこう | let's write |
| Passive | かかれる | be written |
| Causative | かかせる | make/let someone write |
| Ba conditional | かけば | if (someone) writes |
The te-form deserves special attention because so many patterns are built on it (〜てください, 〜ている, 〜てもいい and more). See the Japanese te-form for the full rules.
How do Japanese adjectives work?
Japanese has two kinds of adjectives, and they conjugate differently.
い-adjectives end in い and conjugate on their own, a bit like verbs:
| Form | たかい (expensive, tall) | いい (good, irregular) |
|---|---|---|
| Present | たかい | いい |
| Negative | たかくない | よくない |
| Past | たかかった | よかった |
| Past negative | たかくなかった | よくなかった |
な-adjectives behave more like nouns. They use だ/です and take な before a noun:
| Form | しずか (quiet) |
|---|---|
| Present | しずかだ / しずかです |
| Negative | しずかじゃない |
| Past | しずかだった |
| Before a noun | しずかな へや (a quiet room) |
Watch out for a few な-adjectives that end in い, such as きれい (pretty, clean), きらい (dislike) and ゆうめい (famous). Their negative is きれいじゃない, never きれくない.
What grammar does each JLPT level focus on?
There is no official JLPT grammar list. The organizers describe each level in terms of what you can do, and textbooks and apps build their own lists, so the exact level of a given pattern can differ between sources. The overview below shows the broad picture. For more on the levels themselves, see the complete JLPT guide.
N5: the building blocks
N5 covers the basic machinery: particles, です and ます, present and past, positive and negative, い- and な-adjectives, existence with ある/いる, the te-form with 〜てください and 〜ている, wanting with 〜たい, and invitations with 〜ませんか and 〜ましょう.
きのう ともだちと えいがを みました。
Kinō tomodachi to eiga o mimashita. I saw a movie with a friend yesterday.
N4: new verb forms and conditionals
N4 is where the verb system fills out. You'll learn the potential form, the passive and causative, the volitional, the four conditionals (〜ば, 〜たら, 〜と, 〜なら), giving and receiving verbs (あげる, くれる, もらう), patterns like 〜てしまう and 〜ておく, and the basics of honorific and humble speech.
にほんごが すこし はなせます。
Nihongo ga sukoshi hanasemasu. I can speak a little Japanese.
あめが ふったら、いきません。
Ame ga futtara, ikimasen. If it rains, I won't go.
N3: everyday expressions with nuance
N3 bridges beginner and intermediate Japanese. Many patterns here express judgment, expectation or decision, such as 〜はずだ (should be, expected), 〜ことにする (decide to), 〜ように (so that), 〜うちに (while, before something changes) and 〜ばかり (just did, nothing but).
来年、日本に留学することにしました。
Rainen, Nihon ni ryūgaku suru koto ni shimashita. I've decided to study abroad in Japan next year.
彼はもう着いているはずです。
Kare wa mō tsuite iru hazu desu. He should have arrived by now.
N2: formal and written patterns
N2 grammar is heavy on expressions found in news, business and essays. Typical examples are 〜わけにはいかない (can't very well), 〜にもかかわらず (despite), 〜ものの (although), 〜ざるを得ない (have no choice but to) and 〜に沿って (in line with). Many of them have near-synonyms, and the exam often tests the difference.
明日は試験だから、休むわけにはいかない。
Ashita wa shiken da kara, yasumu wake ni wa ikanai. I have an exam tomorrow, so I can't very well take the day off.
雨にもかかわらず、多くの人が集まった。
Ame ni mo kakawarazu, ōku no hito ga atsumatta. Despite the rain, a lot of people gathered.
N1: literary and highly formal grammar
N1 adds patterns that are rare in conversation but common in editorials, speeches and literature, such as 〜ならでは (unique to), 〜をもって (by means of, as of), 〜といえども (even though), 〜んばかりに (as if about to) and 〜ずにはおかない (will inevitably). Knowing the meaning isn't enough at this level; you need a feel for the tone and where each pattern fits.
この味は、地元の店ならではだ。
Kono aji wa, jimoto no mise nara de wa da. This flavor is something only a local shop can offer.
How does the JLPT test grammar?
At every level, grammar questions come in three broad types. The exact number of questions and the time limits vary by level, so check the official JLPT website for current details.
- Sentence grammar (choosing the form). A sentence has a blank, and you pick the word or pattern that fits. These test meaning, particles and especially connection rules: what form comes before a pattern.
- Sentence ordering. You get four pieces of a sentence and must arrange them correctly, then answer which piece lands in the marked slot. This rewards knowing whole patterns, not just their English meaning.
- Text grammar. A short passage has several blanks, and you choose what fits the flow: conjunctions, references back to earlier sentences, and the right expression for the context.
Grammar shares a scored section with vocabulary, and at N5 and N4 it's grouped with reading too, so weak grammar affects more than one part of your result. See how the JLPT is scored to understand the sectional minimums.
How should you study Japanese grammar?
Learn patterns inside sentences. A pattern like 〜わけにはいかない means little as an English gloss. Learn it with two or three natural example sentences, and you'll remember both the meaning and how it's used.
Always learn the connection. For each pattern, note what attaches to it: the dictionary form, the te-form, a noun + の, a な-adjective + な, and so on. For example, はず takes いく はず, しずかな はず and がくせいの はず. Ordering questions are mostly testing this.
Compare look-alike patterns. From N3 up, many patterns overlap. Put similar ones side by side and write down the difference in your own words: which is more formal, which shows the speaker's feeling, which is used for the future.
Use spaced repetition. Grammar fades fast without review. Short daily reviews beat one long weekend session.
Read and listen at your level. Graded readers, NHK News Web Easy for lower levels, and podcasts show you patterns in context, which is how you build the feel the exam rewards.
Produce something. Write a few sentences with each new pattern. Even if no one corrects them, forcing yourself to use the connection rules locks them in.
Don't neglect kanji. From N3 up, example sentences are written with kanji, and slow reading makes grammar questions harder than they should be. Our kanji guide covers how to keep up.
Common Japanese grammar mistakes
- Translating word for word from English. Japanese marks roles with particles, not word order, so build the sentence around the verb at the end.
- Mixing up は and が, or に and で. These pairs come up constantly; learn the core rules for each.
- Ignoring the verb group. Conjugating かえる (go home) as a ru-verb gives かえます instead of かえります.
- Learning only English meanings. Many N2 and N1 patterns translate to the same English word but aren't interchangeable.
- Skipping connection rules. Knowing that はず means "should be" doesn't help if you write しずか はず instead of しずかな はず.
- Rushing to higher levels. Weak N5 and N4 foundations, especially te-form and plain forms, cause trouble with every pattern built on them.
Frequently asked questions
How many grammar points are there for each JLPT level?
There's no official number, because there's no official list. Textbooks and apps give different counts depending on how they split patterns, so treat any figure you see as an estimate. The jump in volume from N3 to N2 and N1 is real, though.
Which JLPT level has the hardest grammar?
Most learners find N2 the biggest step, because the number of formal patterns rises sharply. N1 grammar is harder in absolute terms, but by then you're used to learning patterns with fine distinctions.
Do I need to learn keigo for the JLPT?
Yes, gradually. Basic honorific and humble forms appear from N4, and N3 and N2 listening and reading regularly include polite speech at work or in shops. You need to understand keigo more than produce it.
Can I study grammar without a textbook?
You can, with a structured list, plenty of example sentences, and regular review. Many learners use a textbook for explanations and an app for daily practice and review.
Grammar lists by level
Want every pattern in one place? The JLPT N5 grammar list covers all the beginner patterns with meanings and example sentences.
Build your grammar with Kantan JLPT
Kantan JLPT organizes grammar by level from N5 to N1, with short explanations, example sentences and fill-in-the-blank and sentence-ordering practice in the same style as the exam. Patterns you miss come back in your spaced-repetition review until they stick, and timed mock tests show whether your grammar is ready for test day. Start with the foundations in Japanese verb groups and the te-form.