JLPT N1 cheat sheet

N1 言語知識・読解 lasts 110 minutes; 言語知識 and 読解 are scored as separate 0–60 sections even though they share one test block.

N1 has three 0–60 scored sections (言語知識, 読解, 聴解); passing requires ≥100/180 total and ≥19/60 in every section.

N1 vocabulary item types: 漢字読み, 表記, 語形成, 文脈規定, 言い換え類義, 用法.

N1 grammar item types: 文法形式の判断, 文の組み立て, 文章の文法.

N1 reading item types: 内容理解（短文・中文・長文）, 統合理解, 主張理解, 情報検索.

文の組み立て: the ★ occupies one of four numbered slots; the answer is the element in that slot, so build the sentence from the predicate backward.

文章の文法: each blank is resolved by discourse features - conjunction type, tense/aspect consistency, and こそあど reference - not by the blank's sentence alone.

情報検索: an option is correct only if it satisfies every stated condition; one violated condition disqualifies it.

言い換え類義: the correct paraphrase preserves meaning and register; options sharing only the topic or a collocation are distractors.

N1 聴解 lasts about 55 minutes and is scored 0–60; its five item types are 課題理解, ポイント理解, 概要理解, 即時応答, 統合理解.

課題理解 asks what the listener or speaker must do next; the correct option is an action, while reasons and states are distractors.

ポイント理解 prints the question before the audio and targets one detail (why, when, where, who); unrelated details are distractors.

概要理解 prints no question; the answer concerns the overall topic or the speaker's conclusion, not specific numbers.

即時応答: choose the reply matching the speech act of the prompt (request, invitation, complaint, apology); keyword repetition is a typical trap.

統合理解 uses longer passages with multiple conditions or speakers; the answer must satisfy all conditions, not just the first mentioned.

Japanese listening distinguishes mora length: おばさん/おばあさん and 来て/切って differ only in vowel length or gemination.

Numbers, times, and prices are frequently revised mid-dialogue (やっぱり, じゃあ); the corrected final figure, not the first stated one, is normally the answer.

High vowels /i/ and /u/ devoice between voiceless consonants (好き → 'ski'), so a devoiced vowel is not a missing mora.