Sentence Reordering and Transformation (語句整序・書き換え)
Two short-answer formats test control of sentence structure. In 語句整序 you arrange scrambled words so the English matches the Japanese given; in 書き換え you rewrite a sentence with the same meaning, usually using a specified pattern.
Reordering method
- Read the Japanese and mark the clause boundaries.
- Build the core first: subject + verb + object.
- Attach modifiers: relative clauses and participle phrases go immediately after the noun they describe; time and place go at the end; adverbs sit before the adjective or main verb.
- Check the fixed first or last word if one is printed, and confirm every word has been used.
Worked example
「私は彼がなぜ怒っているのか知りません。」 Words: I / know / why / he / is / angry / do not Answer: "I do not know why he is angry." Reasoning: the main clause is negative, so "do not know" forms the core. The embedded question keeps statement order - "he is", never "is he" - and "why" joins the two clauses.
Transformation patterns to know
- too … to do ↔ so … that … cannot do
- … enough to do ↔ so … that … can do
- not as … as = less … than
- Direct → indirect: back-shift the tense, change pronouns and time words (tomorrow → the next day), and keep statement order.
- Active ↔ passive: the object becomes subject, be + past participle, by + agent.
Traps that cost marks
- Keeping question order after "Do you know…?" or "I don't know…".
- Dropping "not" when converting so … that ("so tired that I could not walk").
- Treating "not as tall as" as "taller than"; it means shorter.
- Forgetting pronoun and time changes in reported speech.
- Writing the right pattern but leaving one extra word that changes the meaning.