# JFT-Basic Kanji Meaning and Usage (1-4): the kanji word that fits

Category 1-4 gives a sentence with a gap and kanji words as options. How to read the sentence for the action rather than the character, with three worked items.

## The short answer

Kanji Meaning and Usage is category 1-4, the last of the four Script and Vocabulary categories. A sentence appears with a gap and the options are written in kanji, so you have to read them before you can choose. The Japan Foundation's purpose for it is to test the meaning and usage of a word written in kanji, which makes it categories 1-2 and 1-3 asked at once.

## Key facts

- **Section:** Script and Vocabulary
- **Category number:** 1-4
- **What it tests:** The meaning and usage of a word written in kanji
- **Questions in the section:** Around 12
- **Stimulus:** A sentence with a gap, options in kanji
- **Review:** Allowed anywhere inside the section

Sections, categories and rules come from the Japan Foundation's JFT-Basic pages and its "About the JFT-Basic" deck, checked 27 September 2026.

## How it's scored

This is the hardest of the four categories in the section, because it fails in two different ways. You can misread the kanji, or read it correctly and still pick a word that does not fit the sentence.

The options are usually verbs sharing a shape or a field. Three kanji verbs of motion will sit together, and the sentence names which motion it is. Reading the whole sentence before the options is worth more here than anywhere else in the section.

> Work out what the sentence needs in your own words first, then read the options. Going the other way means reading three kanji words you are about to discard.

## Kanji Meaning and Usage examples

Worked examples written for this page. Answer each one before you open the model response: memorizing a response is scored as an irrelevant answer in the real test.

**Example 1 -- three verbs of motion**

> すずきさんは まいにち じてんしゃで かいしゃに（　　）います。

Prompt: Which kanji word fits the gap best?

- A. 通って
- B. 走って
- C. 渡って
Answer: A.

Model response: 通って. かよう is the verb for going somewhere regularly, which まいにち sets up.

Why it scores: 走る is to run and 渡る is to cross. All three are motion and all three take similar particles, so the daily-repetition word in the sentence is the only thing that separates them.

**Example 2 -- the sentence contradicts the obvious choice**

> この へやは でんきを（　　）ても あかるいです。

Prompt: Which kanji word fits the gap best?

- A. 付け
- B. 消し
- C. 開け
Answer: B.

Model response: 消し. The room is bright even with the light off, which is what ても sets up.

Why it scores: 付ける is the reflex answer next to でんき, and it makes the sentence say nothing. ても is the word doing the work: it promises a contrast, so the gap has to oppose あかるい.

**Example 3 -- a kanji shape shared by three words**

> にもつを 2かいに（　　）ので、てつだって ください。

Prompt: Which kanji word fits the gap best?

- A. 選ぶ
- B. 並ぶ
- C. 運ぶ
Answer: C.

Model response: 運ぶ, to carry. The request for help and the destination on the second floor both point at moving the luggage.

Why it scores: 選ぶ and 並ぶ end in the same ぶ and look similar at a glance. Under time pressure the shape of the ending is what people match on, which is what the item is built to catch.

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## Common mistakes

| What costs marks | Do this instead |
| --- | --- |
| Choosing the word that goes with the noun out of habit. | でんき attracts 付ける. Read the grammar around the gap, because ても and のに exist to reverse it. |
| Matching on the shape of the kanji. | 運, 選 and 並 share an ending. Read the whole word, not the last character. |
| Reading the options first. | Decide what the sentence needs, then read. Otherwise you read three words you will not use. |
| Treating this as a kanji test. | Reading the kanji is the entry fee. The mark goes to whoever also reads the sentence. |

**See how far 200 is** The JFT-Basic score checker turns a total on the 10-250 scale into its level band, says whether it clears A2, and works out what you still need. [Open the JFT-Basic score checker](/jft-basic/score-checker)

## How to practice

1. Drill this category with the options covered. If you can fill the gap in hiragana, the kanji is a lookup.
2. Keep the verbs that share an ending together: 運ぶ, 選ぶ, 並ぶ, 呼ぶ. They are the ones that get confused at speed.
3. Watch for ても, のに and が in practice sentences. They reverse what the gap needs and they appear throughout the test.
4. Read workplace notices in Japanese. They use this vocabulary in the register the JFT-Basic draws on.

## Common questions

### How is JFT-Basic 1-4 different from 1-3?

Category 1-3 asks only how a kanji word is pronounced. Category 1-4 asks whether it fits a sentence, so you have to read the options and then judge the usage.

### Can I answer 1-4 without knowing the kanji?

Sometimes, if you can guess the word from the sentence and recognize one option. It is not a strategy though: the options are chosen to look alike, which is what makes recognition unreliable.

### Which Script and Vocabulary category is hardest?

This one, for most test takers, because it can fail at reading or at usage. The Japan Foundation publishes no difficulty ranking, so that is an observation about the two skills involved rather than an official statement.

**Sources**
- [The Japan Foundation: About the JFT-Basic, test structure and categories (PDF)](https://www.jpf.go.jp/jft-basic/e/about/pdf/describing_en.pdf)
- [The Japan Foundation: about the JFT-Basic (checked 27 September 2026)](https://www.jpf.go.jp/jft-basic/e/about/index.html)

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