N1 ★ questions, step by step

Seven tips

1. Build the whole sentence firstNever try to guess the ★ directly. Put all four pieces in order, read the full sentence back, and only then look at which piece sits on the ★.Order first → ★ second. Most wrong answers come from skipping this.
2. Start from the endThe words after the last blank are fixed. Ask what they need right before them: a verb wants its object (〜を), です wants a noun or adjective, ください wants a て-form.…＿ かいました → the last piece is probably 〜を.
3. Describers sit right before what they describeIn Japanese, anything that describes a noun comes in front of it — adjectives, の-phrases, and whole plain-form clauses. So a plain verb piece is usually followed directly by a noun piece.めがねを かけて いる ひと — the clause ends right before ひと.
4. Particles point forwardA piece that ends in a particle (は, が, を, に, で, と…) needs something after it. A piece with no particle usually ends a phrase. Use this to pair pieces up.みせで → needs a verb or another phrase after it, never the end of a list.
5. Adverbs go before the verb they changeWords like とても, まだ, 早く, 一気に describe how something is done, so they sit somewhere before their verb or adjective — usually right before it.まだ よく わかりません — not よく まだ.
6. Keep fixed patterns togetherGrammar patterns arrive in pieces but always in the same order: 〜てから, 〜ために, 〜ようになる, 〜にかかわらず. Spot the frame, lock those pieces together, and the rest falls into place.たべて + から → たべてから is one unit.
7. Reasons and conditions come firstA clause ending in ので, から, ば, たら, ても or ものの sets the scene, so it comes before the main clause. The main verb is always last.あたまが いたかった ので → がっこうを やすみました.

Patterns to know at N1

〜ないことにはNならではの〜をものともせず〜にひきかえ〜を皮切りに〜にもまして〜いかんによらず〜とあって〜べく〜ずにはおかない

Practice: ten questions, getting harder

Tap the pieces in order to fill the blanks. Tap a filled blank to take its piece back.