HSC Japanese in Context flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

まず・つぎに・さいごに

Sequence markers meaning first, next, and finally. They organise spoken instructions or lists, so hearing one tells you a new step or item is beginning.

でも・しかし・ところが

Conjunctions meaning but or however. They signal that the next clause contradicts or qualifies what came before, and the stressed point usually follows them.

から・ので

Markers of reason meaning because or since. The clause ending in から or ので gives the cause, and the main clause after it gives the result.

です・ます versus plain form

Polite です・ます endings mark formal or service situations and distance between speakers. Plain dictionary and past forms mark closeness with friends or family, or inner thought.

〜ていただけませんか

A polite request meaning could you please do this for me. It is more deferential than 〜てください and typically appears when asking a superior or stranger for a favour.

Reduced speech forms

Spoken Japanese contracts endings: 〜ている becomes 〜てる, 〜ておく becomes 〜とく, 〜てしまう becomes 〜ちゃう, and 〜なければ becomes 〜なきゃ. Recognising them recovers the full grammar.

Counters 人・本・枚・台

Counter suffixes attached to numbers: 人 for people, 本 for long thin objects, 枚 for flat things like paper or shirts, 台 for machines and vehicles. Wrong counters change the meaning.

〜までに versus 〜まで

〜までに means by a deadline, describing completion before a point in time. 〜まで means until, describing a state or action continuing up to that point.

〜ごろ versus 〜くらい

〜ごろ attaches to a time and means around that clock time. 〜くらい or 〜ぐらい attaches to quantities and durations and means approximately that amount.

Request escalation scale

Requests rise in politeness from 〜てください to 〜ていただけませんか to 〜ていただけるとありがたいのですが. The higher forms suit teachers, customers, and superiors.

Kanji compounds versus okurigana

In a Japanese sentence, kanji compounds carry the core lexical meaning while trailing okurigana and particles carry tense, politeness, and grammatical role. Parse compounds first, then particles.

Katakana functions in text

Katakana marks loanwords, but also emphasis, onomatopoeia, and technical or brand terms. If no English source word fits, read it as emphasis or sound symbolism.

Transitive/intransitive pairs

Pairs such as 開ける/開く and 止める/止まる differ in whether someone acts on an object (を with transitive) or something changes by itself (が with intransitive).

Passive 〜れる・〜られる

The passive shifts focus to the affected party, marked by が or は, while the agent takes に. It answers questions about who was affected by whose action.

〜と conditional

The 〜と conditional expresses automatic or natural results, such as instructions, machinery behaviour, or habitual consequences. The following clause cannot be a request or invitation.

〜たら conditional

The 〜たら form means when or once something is completed, or a hypothetical condition. It is the most flexible conditional and can precede requests and invitations.

〜ば conditional

The 〜ば form states a hypothetical condition, often with a general truth or advice in the main clause. Verbs take the e-row ending, as in 行けば and 食べれば.

〜なら conditional

〜なら takes up something already mentioned as the topic and means if that is the case or speaking of that. It often responds to what the other person just said.

これ・それ・あれ reference

These demonstratives point to things in discourse: これ to what is near the speaker or just introduced, それ to what is near the listener or recently mentioned, あれ to shared or distant items.

つまり・たとえば・ただし

Sentence-initial connectors: つまり restates in other words, たとえば introduces an example, and ただし adds a proviso or exception to what was just stated.

したがって・そのため

Connectors meaning therefore and for that reason. They introduce a conclusion or consequence drawn from the preceding sentence, so the answer often follows them.

Scanning for keyword answers

Read the question stem first, identify a keyword, locate that keyword or its synonym in the passage, then read the whole surrounding paragraph before selecting an option.

Plain form register

Plain form uses dictionary, た, ない, and なかった endings without です or ます. It suits diaries, personal essays, notes, and messages to close friends or family.

です・ます register

Polite register uses です and ます endings throughout. It suits letters to teachers, formal notices, business emails, and any writing addressed to someone senior or unknown.

Letter opening and closing

A formal Japanese letter opens with 拝啓 followed by a seasonal greeting and closes with 敬具. An email to a known person opens with the name plus へ and closes with よろしくお願いします.

Expository paragraph structure

A Japanese expository paragraph states the topic, supports it with two or three sentences using なぜなら or たとえば, and concludes with だから or このように to signal the summary.

Particles に and で

に marks time points, existence location, and direction or recipient. で marks the location where an action happens and the means or tool used to do it.

〜てある versus 〜ている

〜てある describes a resultant state left by someone's intentional action, often with が. 〜ている describes an ongoing action or a continuing state, often with を for the actor.

〜ておく preparatory aspect

〜ておく means do something in advance or leave something in a prepared state. In casual speech it contracts to 〜とく, as in 買っとく meaning I'll buy it beforehand.

Irregular て-forms

する becomes して, くる becomes きて, and いく becomes いって. Godan verbs ending in う・つ・る take って, those in む・ぶ・ぬ take んで, and those in く take いて.

いい adjective conjugation

The adjective いい is irregular: negative よくない, past よかった, past negative よくなかった, and adverbial よく. Its kanji form 良い conjugates regularly as 良くない.

Character-count planning

For a 400-character task, plan roughly 8 to 12 sentences at 35 to 50 characters each. Drafting to that ratio prevents running short or over the limit.