Japanese I
Japanese I tests kana reading, basic kanji, particles, polite verb forms, adjective forms, and short passage comprehension. The exam expects you to identify the grammatical role of each phrase from its particle and the sentence-final form.
Core patterns
- Order is subject–object–verb. The verb comes last: 私は本を読みます.
- Particles: は marks topic (pronounced wa), が marks subject/new information, を marks direct object, に marks destination/time/recipient, で marks location of action or means, へ marks direction.
- Polite verbs: ます form. 読む→読みます; 食べる→食べます. Past: ました; negative: ません.
- い-adjectives inflect: 高い→高くない→高かった. な-adjectives use です/でした and な before nouns.
- あります is for inanimate existence; います is for people/animals.
Worked example
“私は図書館で本を読みます。” は marks 私 as topic; で marks 図書館 as the place where the reading happens; を marks 本 as direct object; 読みます is the polite present/future verb. If the sentence meant “go to the library,” it would use に or へ with 行きます.
Traps
- Do not use で for destination; use に/へ.
- は and が are not interchangeable: は frames a topic, が often answers “who/what.”
- Long vowels and small っ/ゃ/ゅ/ょ change words; read kana carefully.
- Transitive/intransitive pairs (開ける/開く) often appear in particle questions.
- Do not put the verb before its object in the Japanese order.