JLPT N4 Grammar Guide - All 130+ Grammar Points

130+ Grammar Points • Click any link below to jump directly to it

Table of Contents

• あいだ (aida) - while; during; between
• あまり～ない (amari nai) - not very, not much~
• あとで (atode) - after~; later
• ば (ba) - conditional form; If [A] then [B]
• 場合は (baai) - in the event of; in the case that
• ばかり (bakari) - only; just; nothing but~
• だけで (dake de) - just by; just by doing; with only
• 出す (dasu) - to begin to; to start to; to burst into; ... out
• でございます - to be (honorific です)
• でも - ... or something; how about~
• ではないか - right?; isn't it?
• が必要 - is needed; is necessary
• 必要がある - need to; it is necessary to
• がする - to smell; hear; taste
• がる - to show signs of; to appear; to feel, to think
• がり - someone tends to; has a tendency to; has a sensitivity to~
• ございます - to be, to exist (honorific ある)
• 始める - to start to; to begin to~
• はずだ - it must be; it should be (expectation)
• はずがない - cannot be (impossible); should not be the case
• よう - volitional form; let's do～
• ろ - imperative form (命令形)
• が (ga) - Subject marker
• いらっしゃる - to be; to come; to go (honorific form of いる)
• いたします - to do (humble form of する); to venerably do
• かどうか - whether or not～; if...or not
• かしら - I wonder~
• かな - I wonder~
• かい - turns a sentence into a yes/no question (casual)
• かもしれない - might; perhaps; indicates possibility
• から作る - made from; made with
• きっと - surely; undoubtedly; almost certainly; most likely
• 頃 - around; about; when
• こと - Verb nominalizer

あいだ (aida) - while; during; between

How to use:
Verb + 間 (に)
I-Adj + 間 (に)
Na. Adj + な + 間 (に)
Noun + の + 間 (に)

間（あいだ） / 間に（あいだに）

Both mean “during a time period,” but they are used in different ways depending on whether something lasts the whole time or happens once inside that time.

① 間（あいだ） = “during the whole time”

Use this when something happens for the entire duration of another action or period.

The action continues throughout the whole period

Examples:
9時から5時までの間
“Between 9 and 5”
散歩している間、ずっと雨が降っていた
“It rained the whole time I was walking.”
しばらくの間、村には戻れない
“I can’t return to the village for a while.”

It is often paired with words like ずっと (“all the time”) to emphasize continuity.
 “For the entire time X is happening…”

② 間に（あいだに） = “sometime during that time”

Use this when something happens once inside a time period, not for the whole duration

Something happens inside the time window, at a specific moment

Examples:
散歩している間に、雨が降り始めた
“It started raining while I was walking.”
迷っている間に、お店が閉まっちゃった
“The shop closed while I was hesitating.”

 “At some point during X…”
As に marks the point where the action occurs, IN that interval of time

Easy way to remember
間 = the whole time (continuous background)
間に = one event happens inside that time" 

雨の間、家にいた。
“I stayed home during the rain.”
雨の間に、買い物した。
“I went shopping while it was raining / during the rain.”