Hyogo Entrance English common mistakes
Hyogo Entrance English · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
On picture-selection listening questions, the candidate hears the first option mentioned (e.g. "I was going to take the bus") and locks in that picture, then uses the second playback only to confirm the choice already made instead of listening for the correction ("but it stopped raining, so I walked").
They listen for isolated keywords rather than following the sequence of plan → change → final decision. Because the second playback feels like a safety net, they stop actively comparing the new information with their first answer, and contradictions in the audio pass unnoticed.
What to do instead
During the first playback, jot the sequence on the question paper with arrows (plan → but → final) next to the candidate pictures. During the second playback, listen specifically for switch signals (but, actually, instead, after all, in the end) and rewrite the answer if the last-mentioned option differs, even if the first answer felt certain.
On response-selection listening items, the candidate picks the reply that echoes the words of the recorded line - "Would you like some tea?" answered with "Yes, I like tea very much" - instead of the reply that actually performs the expected function, such as accepting or declining the offer.
Sound-matching is faster and feels safer than meaning-matching under time pressure, and Japanese classroom drilling often rewards recognising vocabulary over identifying the speech act. The candidate never explicitly asks "what is this person doing with these words?"
What to do instead
Before the options are read, label the recorded line's function in the margin: offer / request / invitation / apology / permission / suggestion. Then test each option against the function - an offer must be accepted or refused, not commented on - and eliminate any option that only repeats vocabulary.
When asked what "it", "this" or "they" refers to, the candidate chooses the nearest noun in the previous sentence, even when that noun is singular and the pronoun plural, or when the pronoun stands for a whole preceding clause ("Ken failed the test. This surprised everyone.").
Japanese frequently omits subjects and objects, so candidates are not in the habit of tracking an English subject across sentence boundaries. Choosing the closest noun is a shortcut that requires no re-reading, and it usually produces an answer that sounds plausible.
What to do instead
Circle every pronoun/reference word while reading, then substitute each candidate back into the sentence and read both sentences aloud silently. Check number agreement (it/they) and logic: if none of the nouns fits, the referent is the whole previous clause. Underline the exact words you substituted so the choice is verifiable.
On detail and inference questions, the candidate selects an option that is true in real life or matches their own opinion but is not stated in the passage, or picks an option because it repeats words copied verbatim from the text even though the relationship expressed is different.
Expository passages are usually about familiar school, environment or volunteer topics, so background knowledge floods in. Also, verbatim word repetition feels like textual evidence, and candidates do not go back to the line to check whether the copied words are joined by the same logic.
What to do instead
For every option, go back to the paragraph and mark the supporting clause, or write "not in text" beside it. Distrust options made entirely of words copied from the passage; the correct option in this exam is usually a paraphrase (synonym or reworded structure), while the distractor is the copy.
On word-order (整序) items, the candidate arranges the chunks by translating the Japanese meaning word for word and choosing whatever order "sounds natural", producing forms like "I know where does he live" or "This is the book which I bought it yesterday".
They treat the item as a meaning puzzle rather than a grammar-point test. Indirect questions, relative clauses and it … for … to … patterns have an order that differs from the Japanese word order they are translating from, and "natural" is judged by feel, not by the tested rule.
What to do instead
First name the pattern being tested (indirect question, relative pronoun, comparative, participle phrase, so … that …). Write the skeleton of that pattern, then slot in the remaining chunks, and finally reread to confirm that the grammar point is visible in the finished sentence - no extra auxiliary and no resumptive pronoun.
On tense and preposition items in context, the candidate chooses the simple past or present because the sentence's main verb "feels past", ignoring signals in the same sentence or the two sentences around it: for three years, since 2020, just, by the time, tomorrow, already.
They read each blank as an isolated sentence and never build a timeline for the paragraph. Japanese tense usage also maps imperfectly onto present perfect and past perfect, so the learner's instinct points to the wrong form precisely where the exam tests the difference.
What to do instead
Before selecting, circle every time expression in the sentence plus the sentences immediately before and after, and write the anchor time at the top (past / present / future). Where two past events are involved, decide which is earlier, then choose past perfect for the earlier one.
In dialogue-completion items, the candidate answers by topic rather than by question type - replying to "How long will you stay?" with "On Sunday" or "At my uncle's house", or answering "How often …?" with a duration.
Both speakers are discussing the same situation, so any option about that situation looks compatible. The candidate reads the whole turn for meaning and never isolates the interrogative or auxiliary word that dictates the shape of the answer.
What to do instead
Cover the options, underline the wh-word or auxiliary in the prompt, and write beside it what kind of answer is demanded: duration (for three days), frequency (twice a week), place, reason, number. Then accept only the option of that type, and check the reply also matches the register and the speaker's role (student to teacher, friend to friend).
On practical-information texts (timetables, notices, price tables, e-mails), the candidate skims the visible rows, ignores the notes and footnotes in small print ("closed on the third Tuesday", "students half price", "no entry after 4 p.m."), and answers for one person when the question involves two.
Tables are read visually as a whole rather than parsed condition by condition, and small print is treated as decoration. The item is really a small calculation with conditions, but the candidate treats it as a lookup task and answers the first matching number they see.
What to do instead
Read the title, units and every note before looking at the question; then write down what is being asked (who / how many / when / how much) and calculate on paper using only the rows that satisfy the conditions. Recheck against each note explicitly.
On the guided composition, the candidate writes about the topic but omits one of the specified conditions, or ignores the word count (writing 15 words when 25–35 are required), because they begin writing immediately after one reading of the Japanese prompt.
The conditions are packed into dense Japanese and are easy to misread as general advice rather than as requirements. Time pressure at the end of the test pushes the candidate to start producing sentences before planning, and no count is made afterwards.
What to do instead
Before writing, turn the prompt into checkboxes and decide the content of each in Japanese notes (what to include, one reason, one example). Write short SVO sentences mapped one-to-one to the checkboxes, then count words and tick each box. If the count is short, add a concrete reason or example, not repeated generalities.
In written expression the candidate copies a full sentence from the reading passage into their answer, or states an opinion with no "because" clause, producing a single opinion sentence with no support.
Copying feels like a safe source of correct English, and stating a conclusion without support is normal in short Japanese answers. The candidate does not have ready-made English frames for giving reasons, so under time pressure they fall back on copying or on bare opinion statements.
What to do instead
Memorise three or four reusable frames ("I think … because …", "For example, …", "Also, … so …") and practise filling them with the required content. Never copy more than a proper noun or key term from the passage; the assessed element is your own reason plus a supporting example.