Vocabulary (JLPT N3)

1200 words · 60 sets · CC BY-SA 4.0 · EN

The words after N4 — none of these is on the N5 or N4 list, and the build refuses any that is, so the three levels together are each word once. Sixty sets of twenty, and the shape of the level changes here: three sheets of noun + する verbs, two of abstract nouns (影響, 状況, 基準), the conjunctions that hold a paragraph together (しかも, したがって, 一方), the set phrases (気になる, 役に立つ, 首になる), the prefixes and suffixes that make new words from old (不～, ～的, ～っぽい), the formal words of notices (及び, 当日, 未満), and two sheets of the katakana words N3 reading takes for granted. Each set is two printed pages — study, then recall in both directions — and page 1 is page 2's answer key.

Use it alongside N3 kanji and N3 grammar. The kanji forms are the ones an adult would write; readings carry you where the kanji is not yet yours; the N3 reading passages use these words in context. The whole 1,200 on one page if you want to search it.

Full list, all 1200 words → Sets print at two pages each; the list is one long page.

Print a set that belongs together

X1 People in society · 20 人々・国民・個人・他人・本人・大人しい・年寄り・… The nouns for people by role and relation — author, expert, neighbour, the public, the individual. X2 Character and manner · 20 性質・癖・礼儀・人柄・印象・魅力・欠点・… Honest, stubborn, cheerful, gloomy — and the nouns for a person's attitude, habit and manners. X3 Emotions · 20 感情・感じ・怒り・恐怖・不安・緊張・満足・… Anger, fear, envy, pride, gratitude — the nouns of feeling and the verbs that go with them. X4 Body and medicine · 20 心臓・胃・肺・脳・神経・筋肉・皮膚・… Organs, symptoms and treatment — what a doctor says when it is more than a cold. X5 Daily life · 20 暮らし・日常・家事・家計・光熱費・電気代・ごみ・… The nouns of running a household — rent, bills, rubbish, laundry, a lost key. X6 Food and eating · 20 食欲・食品・食材・材料・調味料・小麦・粉・… Ingredients, dishes and the words for taste, freshness and appetite. X7 Clothing and appearance · 20 服装・衣服・制服・水着・裾・襟・袖・… Fashion, fabric, fit — and the verbs for putting on, taking off and changing. X8 Housing · 20 住宅・住居・一戸建て・マンション・団地・間取り・階・… Flats, floors, landlords and leases — the vocabulary of finding somewhere to live. X9 Town and public facilities · 20 施設・役所・区役所・消防署・警察署・裁判所・税務署・… The places on a city map that N4 did not name. X10 Getting about · 20 時刻表・運賃・定期券・改札・車内・車掌・運行・… Timetables, delays, fares and the words on a station sign. X11 Nature and the environment · 20 気候・温暖化・汚染・公害・災害・津波・噴火・… Climate, disaster, pollution and the landscape words of a news report. X12 Animals and plants · 20 生物・植物・昆虫・家畜・羊・猿・熊・… The creatures and growing things beyond the farmyard. X13 School and university · 20 学期・学年・学部・学科・講師・教授・教師・… Terms, credits, theses and the people in a lecture hall. X14 Work and careers · 20 職業・職場・勤務・求人・採用・面接・履歴書・… Hiring, firing, promotion, wages — the vocabulary of employment. X15 Business and the office · 20 企業・取引・取引先・顧客・商品・製品・見積もり・… Clients, contracts, invoices and the meeting room. X16 Money and the economy · 20 物価・価格・収入・支出・予算・節約・無駄・… Prices, income, tax, loans and the words of an economic headline. X17 Law and crime · 20 犯罪・犯人・容疑者・被害・被害者・加害者・証拠・… Crime, suspects, evidence and punishment — what the evening news is made of. X18 Politics and government · 20 選挙・投票・候補・議員・議会・国会・大臣・… Elections, parliament, ministers, policy — the nouns behind the headlines. X19 Media and communication · 20 情報・記事・記者・取材・報道・見出し・出版・… Newspapers, reporters, articles, rumours and the words for information itself. X20 Technology and science · 20 科学者・技術者・発明・発見・開発・進歩・装置・… Energy, machines, data, invention — and the verbs for operating and developing. X21 Time, again · 20 期間・期限・時期・時代・現代・当時・先日・… Periods, moments, eras and how often — the finer time words. X22 Quantity and degree · 20 量・程度・割合・平均・合計・大部分・一部・… Roughly, at most, at least, the majority, the whole — the words for how much. X23 い-adjectives 1 · 20 鋭い・鈍い・荒い・険しい・緩い・きつい・眩しい・… Sharp, rough, steep, clumsy, cheap-looking — describing things and places. X24 い-adjectives 2 and な-adjectives · 20 幼い・頑丈・情けない・くだらない・勿体無い・厚かましい・明らか・… Sensible, plain, obvious, vague, precise — describing ideas and behaviour. X25 Adverbs 1: manner · 20 ぐっすり・ぼんやり・こっそり・のろのろ・ぎりぎり・たっぷり・きちんと・… Firmly, gradually, unexpectedly, on purpose, in vain — the adverbs of how. X26 Adverbs 2: judgement · 20 果たして・案外・意外に・やはり・結局・要するに・主に・… Certainly, apparently, after all, by any chance — the adverbs that set the speaker's stance. X27 Verbs 1: pairs · 20 溶ける・溶かす・冷える・冷ます・沈む・沈める・浮く・… More of the pairs that make Japanese verbs make sense. X28 Verbs 2: handling things · 20 握る・掴む・抱く・積む・重ねる・破る・破れる・… Grip, wrap, pile up, tear, stick, dig — the hands at work. X29 Verbs of thinking and speaking · 20 疑う・判断する・想像する・予想する・納得する・迷う・気づく・… Doubting, judging, guessing, insisting, admitting — the verbs a conversation about opinions needs. X30 Verbs of social action · 20 励ます・慰める・許す・譲る・甘える・拒否する・勧める・… Praising, scolding, forgiving, inviting, refusing, cooperating — what people do to and for each other. X31 Verbs of motion · 20 通り過ぎる・追う・追いつく・漂う・昇る・戻す・引き返す・… To pass, cross, follow, chase, slip, fall over, sink, float — how things and people move. X32 Verbs of change and state · 20 増やす・減らす・弱まる・広がる・広げる・傷む・溜まる・… Increase and decrease, improve and worsen, spread, shrink, melt, freeze — the verbs of change. X33 Verbs of feeling · 20 焦る・感動する・感謝する・呆れる・嫌う・悲しむ・好む・… To be surprised, moved, bored, relieved, envious, embarrassed — feelings as verbs. X34 Suru verbs I · 20 確認する・提出する・申請する・取り消す・延期する・中止する・配達する・… The first block of noun + する verbs that dominate N3 — confirm, apply, cancel, deliver, manage. X35 Suru verbs II · 20 発展する・発達する・発明する・発見する・発表する・生産する・製造する・… Develop, invent, discover, produce, publish, translate — the suru verbs of making and progress. X36 Suru verbs III · 20 賛成する・反対する・許可する・禁止する・尊敬する・信頼する・依頼する・… Agree, oppose, permit, prohibit, respect, trust — suru verbs of relations and rules. X37 Abstract nouns I · 20 影響・効果・意識・意志・意欲・立場・状態・… Influence, effect, condition, standard, feature, tendency, role, value — the nouns of analysis. X38 Abstract nouns II · 20 方向・順序・段階・過程・範囲・部分・中心・… Direction, order, stage, process, range, part, centre, surface, fact, reality, ideal. X39 Conjunctions and sentence adverbs · 20 しかも・さらに・したがって・ところが・すなわち・もっとも・なお・… Moreover, therefore, however, on the other hand, rather, anyway, so-called — the joints of a paragraph. X40 Set phrases and idioms · 20 お世話になります・ご無沙汰・お陰で・気になる・気が付く・気に入る・気をつける・… The fixed phrases every N3 reading uses — to care about, to come in handy, to stand out, to get fired. X41 Counters and units · 20 一杯・一切れ・一皿・一束・一着・一足・一組・… Cups, slices, pairs, houses, birds, heads, doubles, percent, centimetres, grams, even and odd numbers. X42 Arts and culture · 20 芸術・美術・絵画・彫刻・作品・演劇・演奏・… Painting, sculpture, theatre, orchestra, stage, actor, director, protagonist, tradition. X43 Leisure and sport · 20 娯楽・競技・引き分け・応援・観客・記録・体操・… Amusement, competition, draw, cheering, spectator, record, gymnastics, athletics, an outing, fireworks. X44 Travel and tourism · 20 観光・名所・温泉・旅館・宿泊・日帰り・往復・… Sightseeing spots, hot springs, inns, day trips, round trips, lost property, souvenirs, customs, visas. X45 Faith and customs · 20 神・仏・信仰・祈る・拝む・参拝・祝う・… Gods and Buddhas, prayer, shrine visits, ceremonies, the yearly festivals, graves, funerals, luck and fortune-telling. X46 Shapes, materials and colours · 20 縦・斜め・三角・円・直線・曲線・平ら・… Vertical and diagonal, triangle and circle, straight and curved, copper, cotton, leather, wool, pink, navy, transparent. X47 Computers and the internet · 20 機能・入力・出力・検索・無線・端末・機器・… Function, input, output, search, wireless, terminal, charging, update, history, attachment, send, receive, reply. X48 Cooking and the kitchen · 20 茹でる・炒める・混ぜる・刻む・剥く・味付け・酢・… Boil, stir-fry, mix, chop, peel; seasoning, vinegar, pepper, stock; the pan, the knife, the board, low and high heat. X49 Weather and disasters · 20 天気予報・湿度・気圧・大雨・停電・断水・避難・… The forecast, humidity, pressure, heavy rain, blackouts, evacuation, warnings — and the words for a fine day. X50 Family and life events · 20 先祖・親族・孫・甥・姪・いとこ・義理・… Ancestors, relatives, grandchildren, in-laws, engagement, pregnancy, growing up, growing old, inheritance, care. X51 Health and lifestyle · 20 睡眠・運動不足・生活習慣・肥満・減量・脈・呼吸・… Sleep, lack of exercise, weight loss, pulse, breathing, all-nighters, quitting smoking, hangovers, check-ups. X52 Describing places · 20 広々・快適・清潔・不潔・豪華・質素・素朴・… Spacious, comfortable, clean, luxurious, plain, old-fashioned, modern, urban — and where things are: the alley, the end of the road, the vicinity. X53 Katakana words I · 20 アイデア・イメージ・インタビュー・エネルギー・オフィス・カロリー・キャンセル・… The loanwords N3 texts assume — idea, image, energy, service, system, schedule, chance, balance, business. X54 Katakana words II · 20 プラン・ブーム・マナー・メッセージ・メンバー・モデル・ユーモア・… Plan, boom, manners, member, model, humour, rival, leader, rule, level, theme, plus and minus, bonus, pace. X55 Sound and manner words · 20 ばらばら・すっきり・ぐるぐる・ざっと・どきどき・わくわく・いらいら・… Scattered, refreshed, round and round, roughly, thrilled, irritated, wandering, sparkling, wobbly, starving, exhausted. X56 Prefixes and suffixes · 20 不・無・未・非・再・超・各・… The building blocks — un-, non-, re-, super-, each, every, vice-; -ish, -ness, -isation, -style, -rate, -fee, -bound. X57 Formal and written words · 20 及び・並びに・若しくは・但し・且つ・従来・現在・… The words of notices and documents — and, or, provided that, hitherto, hereafter, under, on the day, based on, regarding. X58 Adjectives III (na) · 20 貴重・重要・不要・適切・妥当・明確・客観的・… Precious, important, appropriate, reasonable, clear, objective, logical, emotional, effective, automatic, chance. X59 Verbs of giving, keeping and paying · 20 貰う・与える・授ける・預ける・預かる・貸し出す・返却・… To give and receive, deposit and hold, lend out, refund, treat, share out, hand round, swap. X60 Verbs of everyday action · 20 摘む・つまむ・揉む・擦る・掛ける・突く・放す・… Grip, pinch, fold, pile, hang, pour out, wipe, sweep, wring, scatter, pick up — the small motions of a day.

How the sets were chosen

As with N5 and N4, this is a reconstruction — the JLPT publishes no list — taking the words that appear on most published N3 lists and grouping them by what they are for. The 1,200 here are the core, not the long tail: the words that turn up in nearly every N3 reading passage and that N2 study assumes you already own. Suru verbs are listed with する so the sheet shows the form you will actually meet in a sentence; the prefix and suffix sheet gives each element with two example words in the meaning column.

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