Lesson L7N4N4 Vocabulary — Thematic Sets⏱ 20 min

Home and Furniture Vocabulary

This lesson introduces words for common rooms (e.g., リビング, 寝室, 台所) and furniture (e.g., テーブル, 椅子, ベッド), with practice in context to build recognition and usage.

🎯 Goal: Learn core N4 vocabulary for the home, rooms, and furniture.

Lesson Content

Learning Goal

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to recognize and use 20 core N4 vocabulary words related to daily life, actions, and feelings. You will understand how to talk about movement, health, emotions, and household situations.

Concept

These 20 words cover important verbs, nouns, and adjectives you'll encounter in everyday Japanese conversation. They are grouped by theme to help you remember them more easily. The vocabulary includes actions (walking, deciding, crying), places (dentist, steam train), feelings (mood, disappointment), and physical changes (getting dirty, healing).

Step-by-Step Breakdown

Group 1: Actions & Movement

Word	Reading	Romaji	Meaning
歩く	あるく	aruku	to walk
残る	のこる	nokoru	to remain
決める	きめる	kimeru	to decide
泣く	なく	naku	to cry
泊まる	とまる	tomaru	to lodge at

Key pattern: These are all Godan (Group 1) verbs ending in -u. To make the polite form, change the final -u to -i + ます (masu).

歩く → 歩きます (arukimasu)
残る → 残ります (nokorimasu)

Group 2: Health & Body

Word	Reading	Romaji	Meaning
歯医者	はいしゃ	haisha	dentist
治る	なおる	naoru	to be cured, to heal
毛	け	ke	hair or fur

Note: 治る (naoru) is intransitive — the healing happens naturally. Compare with 治す (naosu, "to cure" something).

Group 3: Feelings & Spirit

Word	Reading	Romaji	Meaning
気	き	ki	spirit, mood
気分	きぶん	kibun	mood
気持ち	きもち	kimochi	feeling, mood
残念	ざんねん	zannen	disappointment

Key difference:

気 (ki) is the basic "spirit/energy" — used in many compounds
気分 (kibun) = temporary mood or physical feeling ("今日は気分がいい" — I feel good today)
気持ち (kimochi) = deeper feeling or emotion ("気持ちがわかる" — I understand your feelings)

Group 4: Water & Heat

Word	Reading	Romaji	Meaning
水泳	すいえい	suiei	swimming
水道	すいどう	suidō	water supply
沸かす	わかす	wakasu	to boil (something)
沸く	わく	waku	to boil, to grow hot

Transitive vs Intransitive:

沸かす (wakasu) = to boil something (transitive, needs an object)
沸く (waku) = something boils (intransitive, no object)

Group 5: Other Important Words

Word	Reading	Romaji	Meaning
歴史	れきし	rekishi	history
汚れる	よごれる	yogoreru	to get dirty
決して	けっして	kesshite	never
汽車	きしゃ	kisha	steam train

Note: 決して (kesshite) is always used with a negative verb at the end of the sentence.

Mini Examples

毎朝公園を歩く。
Maiasa kōen o aruku.
I walk in the park every morning.
歯が痛いので歯医者に行く。
Ha ga itai node haisha ni iku.
My tooth hurts, so I'm going to the dentist.
今日は気分がいい。
Kyō wa kibun ga ii.
I'm in a good mood today.
お湯を沸かす。
O-yu o wakasu.
I boil water.
怪我が治った。
Kega ga naotta.
The injury healed.
彼女は泣いている。
Kanojo wa naite iru.
She is crying.
試験に落ちて残念だ。
Shiken ni ochite zannen da.
I failed the exam — what a disappointment.
決して諦めない。
Kesshite akiramenai.
I will never give up.

Common Mistake

❌ Mixing up 気分 and 気持ち

Wrong: 気持ちが悪い (when you mean physically sick)
Correct: 気分が悪い (kibun ga warui) = I feel sick/ill
気持ちが悪い (kimochi ga warui) = I feel disgusted/creeped out

❌ Forgetting 決して needs a negative verb

Wrong: 決して行く (kesshite iku)
Correct: 決して行かない (kesshite ikanai) = I will never go

❌ Using 治る with a direct object

Wrong: 医者が病気を治る (isha ga byōki o naoru)
Correct: 病気が治る (byōki ga naoru) = The illness heals
Use 治す (naosu) for "to cure something"

Quick Practice

Fill in the blanks with the correct word from today's lesson.

毎日学校まで___（あるく）。
(Every day I walk to school.)
このシャツが___（よごれる）た。
(This shirt got dirty.)
どこに___（とまる）つもりですか？
(Where do you plan to stay/lodge?)
彼の___（きもち）がわかる。
(I understand his feelings.)
お風呂の水が___（わく）のを待つ。
(I wait for the bath water to boil.)

Answers: 1. 歩く, 2. 汚れ, 3. 泊まる, 4. 気持ち, 5. 沸く

Summary and Next Step

You've learned 20 essential N4 vocabulary words covering actions, health, feelings, water/heat, and more. Focus on:

The difference between 気分 and 気持ち
Transitive vs intransitive pairs (沸かす/沸く)
Using 決して with negative verbs

Next step: Practice using these words in short sentences about your daily routine. Try writing 3 sentences about your morning using 歩く, 気分, and 沸かす. Then move on to the next lesson about home and furniture vocabulary.