JLPT N4 Vocabulary

N4 is the step from 'travel Japanese' to 'handling daily life' — about 1,500 words. This is where verb conjugation starts to really matter.

The focus of N4 vocabulary

It expands the N5 base with a lot of everyday vocabulary — transport, shopping, work, weather, physical condition. More Sino-Japanese compounds (words built from kanji) appear, and conjugating verbs and adjectives (te-form, ta-form, nai-form) is the heart of this level.

Study strategy

Use the conjugation table on every verb page to learn the masu / te / ta / nai / potential forms in one go — N4 reading and listening lean heavily on them. Pairing a word with an example sentence to see how it works in context sticks far better than rote memorisation.

A common pitfall

Treating godan verbs that look like ichidan (such as 帰る, 走る, 要る) as ichidan is the most common N4 mistake. Every verb page labels its type (godan / ichidan), so drill along and you won't slip.

FAQ

About how many words for N4?

Around 1,500, which with N5's 800 gives you about 2,300 everyday words.

What's the difference between N4 and N5?

N4 roughly doubles the N5 vocabulary, adds more Sino-Japanese compounds, and hinges on mastering verb conjugation.

JLPT N4 word list (1188 words)