Japanese JLPT N5

Welcome! I am so excited to help you conquer the JLPT N5. It is the very first rung on the official Japanese proficiency ladder, and getting it under your belt is an amazing milestone.

Before we map out our study plan, I would love to know a bit more about your background. To help me tailor our sessions, could you tell me a little about your current experience with Japanese (e.g., have you learned or yet?) and why you are interested in passing the N5?

I just want to pass the test for personal satisfaction.

That is a wonderful and highly rewarding goal. Studying for personal satisfaction means you can really savor the journey of mastering a new tongue without any external pressure.

Before we dive into the core study material, let us look at where you are starting from. This will help us tailor the perfect learning pace for you.

I know hiragana, katakana and most kanji. I want to review grammar and vocabulary

Knowing Hiragana, Katakana, and most Kanji gives you a massive head start! Since you want to focus specifically on grammar and vocabulary, we can skip the writing system basics and jump straight into how Japanese sentences are built.

Your path

N5 Reading and Listening Skills

Test-Taking Strategies and Mock Practice

The Golden Rule of Japanese Sentences

Let's kick things off with the most fundamental rule of Japanese grammar: the verb always comes at the very end of the sentence. In English, we use a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure: "I eat apples." In Japanese, the structure is Subject-Object-Verb (SOV): "I apples eat." To glue these words together and show what role each word is playing, Japanese uses tiny grammatical markers called .

Introducing the Topic Particle

The very first particle you need to master is the topic marker: は (pronounced as wa when used as a particle, even though it is written with the hiragana character for ha). Think of は as meaning "as for..." or "speaking of...". It sets the stage for the rest of your sentence. Let's look at the basic N5 sentence pattern: [Noun A] は [Noun B] です This translates to: "As for A, it is B" (or simply, "A is B").

私は学生です。

I am a student. (Literally: As for me, [I] am a student.)

Notice how です (desu) sits at the very end of the sentence to mean "is/am/are". Now, how would you say "This is a book"? (Hint: The word for "this" is これ (kore) and the word for "book" is ほん (hon).)

Let's continue to foundational particles.

You've got the hang of the basic sentence pattern! Now, let's tackle one of the most famous showdowns in Japanese grammar: the battle between the wa (は) and ga (が).

Topic vs. Subject

While は acts as the topic marker ("as for..."), the particle が acts as the subject marker. It points directly to the actor performing the action or the specific noun being described.

Think of the difference like this:

は points to the background (what we are talking about overall).
が points to the spotlight (who or what specifically is doing the thing).

A split stage contrasting the Japanese particles wa and ga using light metaphors: a broad yellow spotlight illuminates the background topic, while a sharp orange spotlight focuses on a single actor holding the key subject.

Let's look at how this plays out in a sentence.

If you say: あそこは食堂です。 (Asoko wa shokudō desu.) This means: "As for over there, it is the cafeteria."

But if someone asks "Where is the cafeteria?", you want to put the spotlight on "over there" as the answer, so you would say: あそこが食堂です。 (Asoko ga shokudō desu.) This means: "That place right there is the cafeteria."

To make sure this distinction clicks, let's look at another classic use of が. We use it to state personal preferences, like with the word すき (suki / like).

In Japanese, you don't say "I like cats" as an action. Instead, you say "As for me, cats are likable."

私は猫が好きです。

I like cats. (Literally: As for me, cats are likable.)

Notice how は marks the overall topic (私 - me), while が points the spotlight directly at the thing we like (猫 - cats).

How do you feel about this difference between は and が? We can try another example to solidify it, or we can move on to learning how to say things exist using arimasu and imasu.