文法・表現 - Grammar and Language Usage
Grammar and language usage
Grammar questions test control of particles, conjugation, tense and aspect, voice, politeness, and sentence structure. Review how particles mark subject, object, location, direction, and comparison; how verbs change for negation, potential, passive, causative, and volitional; and how modifiers attach to nouns. In 敬語, distinguish 尊敬語 (respect for another’s action), 謙譲語 (lowering the speaker’s action), and 丁寧語 (polite form).
Traps include ら抜き言葉, double particles, dangling modifiers, and honorifics that point the wrong way. In 「先生がおっしゃった」, おっしゃる respects the teacher. In 「先生に伺った」, 伺う lowers the speaker’s action, which is correct. But 「先生が伺った」 is wrong because the teacher’s action is lowered. Also check omitted subjects: Japanese often leaves them out, but the grammar still requires consistency.
Worked example: choose between 「お目にかかる」 and 「お会いになる」. For “I met the teacher,” use 「先生にお目にかかった」; for “the teacher met me,” use 「先生が私にお会いになった」. The direction of respect decides the form.
Rule of thumb: identify who performs the action and who receives respect. Then choose the verb form that matches that direction, and read the whole sentence to catch a mismatched subject.