Japanese-Language Knowledge Base (JLPT)

A learner-facing knowledge base organised around the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT): what each level requires, and the Japanese language knowledge behind the N5 and N4 study material — vocabulary, kanji, grammar, and the foundations (writing system, verbs, adjectives, particles, numbers) those build on.

JLPT

The test itself: what it is, how it is structured, scored, and taken.

• JLPT overview — what the JLPT is and how the levels relate
• Test format — sections, timings and composition by level
• Scoring and pass marks — how results are calculated
• Question types — what each item type asks you to do
• Taking the test — registration, logistics, practicalities
• Level pages: N5 · N4 · N3 · N2 · N1

Japanese

Reusable foundations that the N5 study material links to — one canonical explanation per topic, linked instead of repeated.

• Writing system — hiragana, katakana, kanji, okurigana
• Verb groups and conjugation — groups, ます/て/ない/た forms, する/来る, transitive/intransitive
• Adjectives and the copula — い-adjectives, な-adjectives, だ/です
• Core particles — は/が/を/に/で/へ/と/の/も and more
• Numbers, counters, dates and time — numbers, days of the month, weekdays, months, counters
• Reading comprehension — what connected reading requires: topic tracking, omitted subjects, reference, sentence linkage, retrieval from practical materials
• Listening comprehension — what heard Japanese requires: speaker intention, politeness, spoken contractions, question polarity, decisive-information tracking

JLPT N5 study

The N5 study set — 660 vocabulary entries, 103 kanji, 84 grammar patterns — with how the N5 test works.

• N5 study hub — start here: the level, the test, and the study set
• Vocabulary — overview and provenance of the 660-word set, with dictionary-backed meanings, furigana, corpus examples and everyday frequency; batches: 1 23 45 67
• Kanji — the 103-character set, beginner-first meanings, readings taught through example words
• Grammar — the 84-pattern inventory with original study notes, linked to its foundations
• N5 question types · N5 reading expectations · N5 listening expectations

JLPT N4 study

The N4 study set — 634 vocabulary entries, 166 kanji, 132 grammar patterns — with how the N4 test works. The Tanos N4 lists are non-cumulative, so N4 builds on N5.

• N4 study hub — start here: the level, the test, and the study set
• Vocabulary — overview and provenance of the 634-word set, with dictionary-backed meanings, furigana, corpus examples and everyday frequency; batches: 12 34 56 7
• Kanji — the 166-character Tanos N4 set, beginner-first meanings; readings taught through N4 example words where available, with curated essential readings for characters the N4 word set does not cover
• Grammar — the 132-pattern inventory with original study notes, linked to its foundations
• N4 reading expectations · N4 listening expectations — what the N4 reading and listening sections assume and how they are tested

JLPT N3 study

The N3 study set — 2,139 vocabulary entries, 367 kanji, 120 grammar patterns — with how the N3 test works. N3 is the intermediate bridging level and builds on N5 and N4 prerequisites.

• N3 study hub — start here: the level, the test, and the study set
• Vocabulary — overview and provenance of the 2,139-word set, with dictionary-backed meanings, furigana, corpus examples and everyday frequency (batches 1–22)
• Kanji — the 367-character canonical set, beginner-first meanings, readings taught through example words and essential compounds
• Grammar — the 120-pattern intermediate inventory with original study notes
• N3 reading expectations · N3 listening expectations — what the N3 reading and listening sections assume and how they are tested

How to use

If you are starting at N5: begin at the N5 study hub, work through the vocabulary batches in order, and when a grammar pattern mentions a form you have not met, follow the link to its foundation page in Japanese above — the explanation lives there once, not repeated on every page.

If you have finished N5: move to the N4 study hub and work through the N4 vocabulary batches, kanji and grammar; the N4 material assumes the N5 set, so review the N5 pages whenever an N4 entry leans on them. Use the N4 reading expectations and N4 listening expectations as the test-expectation reference for N4, and the Japanese section's reading and listening comprehension foundations for the language skills the passages and audio assume.

All study sets are community targets derived from open dictionary data (JMdict, KANJIDIC2, KanjiVG) and community JLPT lists; the JLPT publishes no official vocabulary, kanji, or grammar lists. Provenance is attached to each entry.