N4 roadmap

N4 is where Japanese starts to feel less like phrases and more like sentences you can build yourself. If you can read kana comfortably, know the basic polite forms, and recognize a set of everyday kanji, you are ready to start here. If kana still slows you down, the N5 roadmap is a better place to begin.

This guide suggests a study sequence, not a deadline or a guarantee of JLPT readiness. Take the steps in order, but keep earlier habits going while you add new ones.

1. Know what N4 asks of you

The official level summary describes N4 as “the ability to understand basic Japanese.” In practice, that means reading short passages on familiar daily topics written with basic vocabulary and kanji, and following everyday conversations when they are spoken slowly.

The test has the same three parts as N5: vocabulary, grammar and reading, and listening. The official breakdown lists 25, 55, and 35 minutes for those sections at N4. One difference from N5: the vocabulary section adds a question type that asks you to choose the sentence where a word is used correctly. Knowing a word’s meaning is not quite enough; you also need a feel for where it fits.

The JLPT does not publish official vocabulary, kanji, or grammar lists for any level. Lists you find online are compiled by other people. They can still help you plan, as long as you treat them as a guide rather than the syllabus.

2. Get fluent with plain forms

Most N4 grammar is built on plain forms, so make them automatic before anything else. For each verb, practice the four basic shapes:

• 行く (iku): go
• 行かない (ikanai): don’t go
• 行った (itta): went
• 行かなかった (ikanakatta): didn’t go

Do the same with い-adjectives (高い, 高くない, 高かった, 高くなかった) and with な-adjectives and nouns (静かだ, 静かじゃない, 静かだった, 静かじゃなかった).

The て-form matters just as much. You already used it for requests like 見てください at N5. At N4 it links actions (朝ごはんを食べて、学校に行きます), describes ongoing states (窓が開いています), and combines with many new patterns.

A short daily drill works well: pick five verbs and say all of their forms aloud, including the て-form. Tae Kim’s grammar guide explains how each form is made if a verb group still confuses you.

3. Add everyday grammar, one pattern at a time

Once plain forms feel easy, add new patterns gradually. These come up constantly at this level:

• Experience: 日本に行ったことがあります。 (I have been to Japan.)
• Potential form: 漢字が少し読めます。 (I can read a little kanji.)
• Conditions: 雨が降ったら、家で勉強します。 (If it rains, I’ll study at home.)
• Giving and receiving: 友だちが本をくれました。 (A friend gave me a book.) and 友だちに本をもらいました。 (I received a book from a friend.)
• Intentions: 来年、日本に行こうと思っています。 (I’m thinking of going to Japan next year.)
• Appearance: 雨が降りそうです。 (It looks like it’s going to rain.)
• Passive and causative: 先生にほめられました。 (I was praised by my teacher.) and 母は弟に野菜を食べさせました。 (My mother made my younger brother eat vegetables.)

For explanations, use Tae Kim’s guide or IMABI when you want more detail. To see what is commonly taught at this level, the JLPT Sensei N4 grammar list gives each pattern with example sentences. JLPT Sensei says itself that there is no official N4 grammar list, so read it as a map, not a checklist. If you want structured review, Bunpro adds spaced repetition for grammar; it is a paid service with a trial.

The same habit from N5 still helps: after reading an example, change one word and say the new sentence. If you can’t, go back to the explanation.

4. Keep vocabulary and kanji growing together

N4 needs noticeably more words and kanji than N5. Learn them through words rather than single characters: 電車 (でんしゃ, train) is more useful to remember than 電 on its own, because the test asks you to read and choose words.

Keep your Anki reviews going (free on desktop and Android), or try renshuu, which has free vocabulary, kanji, and grammar practice with optional paid features. Add new cards from sentences you have actually read. If reviews pile up, add fewer new cards for a while instead of stopping.

Practice saying readings aloud. Many kanji have more than one reading, such as 生 in 学生 (がくせい) and 生まれる (うまれる). When you are unsure, check Jisho or Takoboto, which both show example sentences.

5. Read a little more each week

At N4, build on your N5 reading with longer passages and a wider range of vocabulary and grammar. Read something most days, even if it is only a page.

• The Tadoku free graded readers are a good next step. Try level 1 or 2 books, and move up when a level feels easy. Tadoku levels describe reading difficulty; they are not JLPT levels.
• Watanoc tags its short articles by level, including N4.
• MATCHA Easy Japanese has travel and culture articles in simpler Japanese with furigana. Some will feel hard at first, so pick short ones.
• Satori Reader offers supported stories for longer reading. Some content is free and the rest needs a paid subscription, so try the samples first.

Read for the overall meaning first. Then go back and look up the one or two words that kept you from understanding.

6. Listen every day, even briefly

N4 listening uses everyday conversations spoken slowly, but the recording sets the pace and you can’t go back. A few minutes a day helps more than one long session a week.

Erin’s Challenge! from the Japan Foundation has free video skits set in school, home, and daily life. MARUGOTO Plus has free A1 and A2 activities with everyday conversations. Watch a scene once without subtitles, then again with them, and repeat one line aloud.

7. Check yourself with official samples

Try the official sample questions for N4 early, not just before the test. They show one example of each question type, so you can see which types feel slow. When you want longer practice, the official practice workbooks include full sets of questions with audio.

If you are sitting the December test, my 7-week plan for the December JLPT turns this into a week-by-week schedule.

Pick tomorrow’s small step

A workable N4 session might include a few minutes of plain-form drills, one new grammar pattern, your vocabulary reviews, a page of reading, and a short listening clip. You don’t need all of them every day. Choose the one that feels weakest and start there.

You can browse the resources by level or see the best free resources by level.

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I’m Jason Kobayashi, and I run and update this site. How PeraNabi works.