JLPT N4 Vocabulary: 593 Flashcards and the 220 Words N5 Doesn't Teach You
Study JLPT N4 vocabulary with 593 English-to-Japanese flashcards: find the 220 words new since N5, add transitive verb pairs and fix eight reading collisions.
Studying. But it's also a video game. 🎮
Flashcards, quizzes and games that make you actually remember.
Posted by
FLIP IT TeamRelated reading
Learn Hiragana & Katakana: 115 Kana Flashcards and the Look-Alike Pairs That Trip You Up
Learn all 46 hiragana and 46 katakana with 115 flashcards: example words, the シ/ツ and ソ/ン look-alikes, particle readings and the kana the deck leaves out.
Learn Japanese Grammar Essentials: Particles, Counters, Adjectives and Verb Forms in 140 Flashcards
Learn Japanese grammar with 140 flashcards: 20 particles, counter sound changes, i- vs na-adjectives and te-form rules, with the cards worth fixing.
Learn Kanji N5 & N4: 275 Characters, Readings and the Look-Alike Pairs
Study 275 beginner kanji with deck WC6831: N5 core, N4 extensions, on/kun readings, look-alike pairs like 人/入 and 木/本, and the cards to fix first.
JLPT N4 Vocabulary (deck code WP2678, 593 cards) works like the rest of the series: an English word on the front, and kana, romaji and kanji on the back (to be surprised → おどろく (odoroku) — 驚く). Before you start, though, you should know that about 360 of its words are already in the N5 deck. This guide shows you how to find the new ones and spend your reviews on them.
Study this deck: JLPT N4 Vocabulary
1 / 10to walk
Tap the card for the answer · swipe right if you knew it, left if not
8 cards from the deck
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| to catch | つかまえる (tsukamaeru) — 捕まえる |
| to break | こわれる (kowareru) — 壊れる |
| to increase | ふえる (fueru) — 増える |
| lonely | さびしい (sabishii) — 寂しい |
| unskillful | へた (heta) — 下手 |
| crosswalk | おうだんほどう (oudan hodou) — 横断歩道 |
| scholarship | しょうがくきん (shougakukin) — 奨学金 |
| funeral | そうしき (soushiki) — 葬式 |
What's actually new here
About 220 cards don't appear in the JLPT N5 deck. They come in clear groups:
- life-event and emotion verbs: 生まれる, 結婚する, 死ぬ, 笑う, 泣く, 怒る, 喜ぶ, 心配する, 急ぐ, 手伝う, 探す, 見つける, 無くす, 直す
- family terms: 祖父, 祖母, 夫, 妻, 息子, 娘
- tastes: 甘い, 辛い, 塩辛い, 酸っぱい, 苦い
- shapes: 丸, 四角, 三角
- abstract nouns: 経験, 考え, 気持ち, 過去, 現在, 未来, 値段
- the street: 歩道, 通り, 駐車場, 高速道路
- clothing and accessories: 手袋, 靴下, 指輪, 香水, 口紅
- school: 文法, 会話, 科目, 数学, 歴史, 地理, 体育, 成績, 授業料
- ceremonies: 結婚式, 祭り, 伝統, 習慣, 宗教
If you've already done N5, tag these cards and drill them first. The other ~360 (歩く, 食べる, 大きい, 有名…) only need a quick review pass.
Add the transitive partner
N4 grammar expects you to know verb pairs, but this deck gives only one half of each: 始まる, 止まる, 壊れる, 変わる, 増える, 減る, which are all intransitive (the thing happens by itself). For each one, write a second card with its transitive partner: 始める, 止める, 壊す, 変える, 増やす, 減らす. Test both with a short sentence: ドアが開く / ドアを開ける. The が/を contrast is what N4 reading questions are built on.
Eight collisions and three wrong kanji
Eight pairs of cards share the same reading: きく (listen / ask), みる (see / watch), きる (wear 着る / cut 切る), たかい (expensive / high), はやい (fast 速い / early 早い), おそい (slow / late), あつい (hot 暑い / thick 厚い), おりる (get off / descend). Where the kanji is the same, merge the two into one card. Where the kanji differs, keep both cards and put the other kanji in the hint.
Three backs need fixing:
- Card 33: to give is written 上げる. In this sense, あげる is written in kana. 上げる means "to raise."
- Card 554: character gives 漢字, which means "kanji." The general word for a written character is 文字.
- Cards 92 and 307: 成る and 林檎 are rarely written in kanji. Learn なる and りんご, and recognise the kanji only.
Once these cards are solid, JLPT N3 Vocabulary is the next step.
Find deck WP2678 – JLPT N4 Vocabulary in the Flip It library.
Ready to learn faster? 🚀
Join FLIP IT for free and turn studying into a game.