JLPT N4 flashcards
15 decks · 1,189 cards · built into Willys · free samples below
Written against: Kanji, vocabulary and grammar commonly listed for N4 (no official list since 2010). Updated 2026-10-10.
In the app every card is read aloud: the Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish or other language side in its own native voice and the English side in yours, with a hands-free Listen mode for whole decks.
What's in it
Every deck follows the course outline, with tags you can study or suspend topic by topic. Open a deck to study its free sample right here.
Learn · 11 decks · 869 cards
Concepts, mechanisms and the questions a course or exam asks about them.
Part 1
Sixty kanji commonly listed for N4 — family and people, times of day and seasons, body and health, food and drink, everyday things and colours, music and film — each with meaning, on/kun readings and one to three example words.
Part 2
Sixty more kanji commonly listed for N4 — movement and everyday-action verbs, study and thinking, the core adjective pairs (heavy/light, near/far, strong/weak), and towns, buildings and industry — each with meaning, on/kun readings and example words.
Part 3
Forty-eight more kanji commonly listed for N4 — writing, study and exams, people, work and society, time and place, the sea, sky, wind and fields, and a last run of verbs and qualities (stand, cut, stop, gather, arrive, build, correct, bad) — each with meaning, on/kun readings and example words.
Core Words
One hundred words for N4, most of them commonly listed at that level and some at N5 or N3: verbs marked u-verb, ru-verb or irregular (the する-verbs) with their particles and transitive partners, everyday nouns by theme, い- and な-adjectives, and the key adverbs — each with an example sentence in kana.
Adverbs & Expressions
Ninety-one N4 words that hold a sentence together: degree, limit and time words, adverbs, conjunctions, formal nouns like つもり・はず・ため, verb suffixes, counters and polite set phrases, each in a short kana sentence; the back gives meaning, pitch accent where known, translation and a Watch out line.
Home, Town & Nature
Ninety-eight N4 nouns for the home, clothes, food, the town, travel and transport, and the natural world, each in a short kana sentence with the word in bold; the back gives the meaning, pitch accent where known, the translation and, on most cards, the look-alike, particle or usage point to watch.
People, Society & Feelings
Eighty-seven N4 words for people and society: pronouns and address, family and workplace titles, jobs, offices, institutions, events, feelings and the お-words of thanks, each in a short kana sentence, the word in bold; the back gives the meaning, pitch for most words, translation and a Watch out.
Time, Study & Ideas
Ninety-three N4 words for time, school and study, language, the sciences, technology and media, the continents, ideas and reasons, and い- and な-adjectives that describe things, each in a short kana sentence; the back gives meaning, pitch for most words, translation and, on most cards, a Watch out.
Verbs & Actions, Part 1
Ninety-one N4 verbs and nouns of movement, handling and the body, from いらっしゃる and 参る to the transitive–intransitive pairs and the する-verbs of daily life, each in a short kana sentence, the word in bold; the back gives the meaning, pitch accent for most words, the translation and a point to watch.
Verbs & Actions, Part 2
Eighty-one N4 words of speaking, thinking, feeling, giving and receiving, work and change, with the honorific and humble pairs (おっしゃる・申す, くださる・いただく, なさる・致す) and する-nouns carded as verbs; each in a short kana sentence, with meaning, pitch accent for many words, translation and a Watch out line.
Grammar Patterns
Sixty grammar points commonly listed for N4 — potential and volitional forms, the four conditionals, て-form helpers, giving and receiving, passive and causative, そう/よう/らしい, decisions and changes, and basic honorific speech — each with a rule and an example.
Drills · 3 decks · 270 cards
Short answers and cloze blanks for the facts you simply have to know cold.
In Context: Adverbs, Expressions & Core Words
Ninety short N4 sentences about degree, time, manner, conjunctions, polite phrases, travel, work, feelings and adjectives, each blanking one N4 word so you produce it from context, with the English gloss as the hint.
In Context: People, Town & Ideas
Ninety short N4 sentences about people, jobs, society, feelings, the home, the town, nature, school, language and ideas, each blanking one N4 word so you produce it from context, with the English gloss as the hint.
In Context: Verbs & Actions
Ninety short N4 sentences about going and coming, handling things, weather and the body, daily life, speaking, feelings, giving and honorific speech, work and change, each blanking one N4 verb (dictionary form) or noun so you produce it from context, with the English gloss as the hint.
Practice · 1 deck · 50 questions
Multiple-choice practice questions, one best answer each, with the reasoning.
Cloze decks have one or more blanks per sentence; the app makes one card per blank.
Study guide
Topics covered
The decks follow the order of the course outline. Numbers are cards per topic.
- Family & People 12
- Time & Seasons 12
- Body & Health 20
- Food & Drink 21
- Things & Colours 10
- Arts & Media 6
- Movement & Transport 10
- Everyday Actions 10
- Study & Thought 10
- Adjectives 38
- Town & Places 10
- Buildings & Industry 8
- Writing & Study 10
- People & Society 11
- Time & Place 8
- Nature 6
- Verbs & Qualities 13
- Movement & Travel 26
- Daily Life & Things 20
- Study & Work 14
- Feelings & Health 13
- Change & Quantity 5
- する-verbs 4
- People & Family 14
- Plans & Time 6
- Nature & Disasters 3
- い-adjectives 18
- な-adjectives 19
- Adverbs 16
- Degree & Extent 19
- Limits & Comparison 12
- Time & Frequency 34
- Manner & Demonstratives 15
- Conjunctions & Conditions 10
- Formal Nouns & Intentions 5
- Verb Suffixes & Patterns 6
- Prefixes Suffixes & Counters 10
- Social Phrases & Responses 10
- Home & Rooms 19
- Household Things & Materials 13
- Clothes & Accessories 9
- Town & Buildings 16
- Travel & Transport 12
- Nature & Landscape 11
- Sky · Light & Fire 6
- Pronouns & Address 6
- Family & Relationships 14
- Jobs & People 17
- Work & Business 15
- Society & Rules 12
- Places & Events 10
- Feelings & Character 9
- Thanks & Good Wishes 4
- Time & Occasions 10
- School & Study 14
- Language & Writing 11
- Fields of Study 7
- Technology & Media 10
- World & Nations 5
- Ideas & Situations 19
- Shape & Sides 5
- Going & Coming 32
- Honorific & Humble 13
- Handling Things 16
- Making & Breaking 8
- Heat Water & Weather 10
- Body Parts 8
- Senses 5
- Daily Life & Activities 18
- Speaking & Telling 10
- Thinking & Deciding 10
- Feelings & Effort 9
- Praise · Blame & Trouble 10
- Giving & Receiving 14
- Honorific & Humble Verbs 7
- Work · Study & Competition 17
- Starting · Stopping & Change 11
- Life · Growth & Parting 5
- Potential & Volitional 6
- Conditionals 6
- て-form Auxiliaries 7
- Passive & Causative 6
- Appearance & Hearsay 8
- Certainty & Guesses 3
- Degree & Ease 2
- Decisions & Obligation 7
- Contrast & Reasons 3
- Time & Situation 5
- Limits 2
- Plain Speech & Quoting 3
- Manner & Attitude 10
- Conjunctions & Formal Nouns 9
- Social Phrases 4
- Travel Town & Money 8
- Study Work & Plans 8
- People Feelings & Nature 8
- Jobs & Work 9
- Society & Events 6
- Feelings & Thanks 5
- Home & Things 10
- Clothes & Food 6
- Town & Travel 8
- Nature & Sky 6
- Time & Study 10
- Language & Fields 8
- Handling & Making 13
- Weather · Body & Senses 13
- Speaking & Thinking 7
- Feelings & Trouble 10
- Giving · Honorific & Humble 11
- Change · Life & Parting 11
A study plan
- 43 new cards a day covers everything in a month, leaving the last weeks for review.
- 22 new cards a day covers everything in two months, leaving the last weeks for review.
- 15 new cards a day covers everything in three months, leaving the last weeks for review.
Willys schedules reviews for you (FSRS spaced repetition), so the daily number above is only for new cards; reviews of what you have learned come back on their own. Study a topic's cards right after you meet it in class, suspend topics you have not reached yet, and use the app's quiz mode in the final two weeks.
How to get these decks
- Install Willys on your iPhone, iPad or Mac — App Store. 14-day free trial, then $14.99 a year.
- In Willys, tap Exam Library at the top of your Decks (or Browse Exam Library… under the + button), find the exam on its shelf or by search, tick it and tap Add.
- Study. The exam comes in as its own collapsible folder, every card scheduled by FSRS spaced repetition. Nothing you already have is changed.
Every deck is built into Willys
All 15 JLPT N4 decks (1,189 cards), with FSRS spaced repetition, quizzes and mock tests, on iPhone, iPad and Mac. 14-day free trial, then $14.99 a year.
In Willys, tap Exam Library at the top of your Decks (or Browse Exam Library… under the + button), find the exam on its shelf or by search, tick it and tap Add.
About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Readings and meanings checked against the jōyō kanji table (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan, 2010) and KANJIDIC2 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0); example words against JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0); reference only, no text copied.
- Kanji selection follows the set commonly listed for JLPT N4 and excludes every kanji in the JLPT N5 kanji decks; there is no official JLPT kanji list since 2010.
- Kanji selection follows the set commonly listed for JLPT N4 and excludes every kanji in the JLPT N5 kanji decks and in Part 1; there is no official JLPT kanji list since 2010.
- Kanji selection follows the set commonly listed for JLPT N4 and excludes every kanji in the JLPT N5 kanji decks and in Parts 1 and 2; there is no official JLPT kanji list since 2010.
- Word selection follows vocabulary commonly listed for JLPT N4 (no official list exists since 2010); meanings, kanji spellings, verb groups and adjective types checked against JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Reference only; all example sentences are original.
- Pitch-accent positions checked against the Kanjium accent data (CC BY-SA 4.0); reference only.
- Word selection follows vocabulary commonly listed for JLPT N4 (no official list exists since 2010; checked against the N4 list compiled by Jonathan Waller, tanos.co.uk, CC BY); meanings and verb groups checked against JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Reference only; all example sentences are original.
- Usage notes checked against デジタル大辞泉 and 日本大百科全書 (Kotobank); reference only.
- Usage notes checked against デジタル大辞泉 and 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (Kotobank); reference only.
- Usage notes checked against デジタル大辞泉, 日本大百科全書 and 大学事典 (Kotobank); reference only.
- Word selection follows vocabulary commonly listed for JLPT N4 (no official list exists since 2010; checked against the N4 list compiled by Jonathan Waller, tanos.co.uk, CC BY); meanings and verb groups checked against JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0), with Kotobank (デジタル大辞泉, 精選版 日本国語大辞典) for usage and word-origin notes. Reference only; all example sentences are original.
- Grammar points follow the patterns commonly listed for JLPT N4 (no official list exists since 2010) and exclude points covered in the JLPT N5 grammar deck; rules checked against Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese Grammar (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0), JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Kotobank (デジタル大辞泉, 精選版 日本国語大辞典). Reference only; all example sentences are original.
- Sentences reuse or follow the folder's vocabulary decks; vocabulary commonly listed for JLPT N4 (no official list since 2010), checked against the N4 list compiled by Jonathan Waller (tanos.co.uk, CC BY); meanings, hints and accepted fills checked against JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0) and デジタル大辞泉 (Shogakukan, via Weblio), reference only. All sentences are original.
- Sentences reuse or follow the folder's vocabulary decks; vocabulary commonly listed for JLPT N4 (no official list since 2010), checked against the N4 list compiled by Jonathan Waller (tanos.co.uk, CC BY); meanings, hints and rival fills checked against デジタル大辞泉 (Shogakukan, via Weblio), reference only. All sentences are original.
- Sentences reuse or follow the folder's vocabulary decks; vocabulary commonly listed for JLPT N4 (no official list since 2010), checked against the N4 list compiled by Jonathan Waller (tanos.co.uk, CC BY); meanings, hints and accepted fills checked against JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0) and デジタル大辞泉 (Shogakukan, via Kotobank and Weblio), reference only. All sentences are original.
- Grammar checked against Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese Grammar (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) and Kotobank (デジタル大辞泉, 精選版 日本国語大辞典); kanji readings against the jōyō kanji table (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan, 2010) and KANJIDIC2 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0); vocabulary against JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Reference only, no text copied.
- Kanji, vocabulary and grammar follow the sets commonly listed for JLPT N4 (no official list exists since 2010).
These are independent study notes written for Willys. They are not official exam material, may contain mistakes, and are no substitute for your course, your teacher or the exam owner's own publications. Found an error? Tell us — corrections ship as a new version of the deck.
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