4.3 Sentence Composition (★) & Text Grammar

Sentence Composition (★) and Text-Level Grammar

The N2 grammar block has three task types. You have drilled 文法形式の判断 (pattern selection). The remaining two — 文の組み立て (sentence composition, the ★ item) and 文章の文法 (text grammar) — reward method as much as knowledge.

The ★ (star) sentence-composition question

You are given a sentence broken into four scrambled fragments (numbered 1–4) with a blank marked ★. You reorder the four fragments so the sentence is grammatical, then report which fragment number lands on the ★. The answer is the number sitting in the starred slot — not the whole order.

Step-by-step method:

1. Read the fixed frame. Note the words already printed before the first blank and after the last blank; they anchor the grammar and tense.
2. Snap pattern halves together. Many fragments are one half of a two-part pattern (〜からには…, 〜ば…のに, 〜たうえで…). Join the halves first.
3. Chain particles and modifiers. A noun+の attaches to a following noun; a て-form or ます-stem attaches to a following verb; a topic は seeks a predicate. Use these links to build pairs.
4. Assemble the full order, then read it back for natural meaning.
5. Report the fragment on ★ only. Re-map the positions after ordering — miscounting the starred slot is the single most common error.

Worked example. Frame: 彼は ___ ___ ★ ___ 、成功した。 Fragments: (1) 努力を (2) だけあって (3) 続けた (4) 惜しまず.

• 惜しまず (4) pairs with 努力を (1) → 努力を惜しまず ('sparing no effort').
• だけあって (2) is causal-positive and needs a preceding plain verb → 続けた (3) + だけあって (2) → 続けただけあって ('as you would expect from having kept it up').
• Full order: 努力を(1) → 惜しまず(4) → 続けた(3) → だけあって(2): 「彼は努力を惜しまず続けただけあって、成功した。」
• The ★ (third slot) holds 続けた, so the answer is 3.

Text-level grammar (文章の文法) and connectives

Here a passage has numbered blanks and you choose the expression that keeps the discourse coherent — often a connective (接続詞), a demonstrative (こそあど), or a sentence-final nuance. Learn the connective families:

• 給料は上がった。とはいえ、物価も上がったので楽にはならない。 — 'Wages rose. That said, prices rose too, so life is not easier.'
• 兄は社交的だ。一方、弟は無口だ。 — 'The older brother is sociable; the younger, by contrast, is quiet.'

Keigo review: 尊敬語 vs 謙譲語

Keigo (敬語) appears in the grammar block and in listening. There are two systems plus polite 丁寧語 (です・ます, ございます).

• 尊敬語 (sonkeigo, honorific): raises the other person's action. Patterns: お + ます-stem + になる, 〜れる/られる, and special verbs — いらっしゃる (be/go/come), おっしゃる (say), 召し上がる (eat/drink), ご覧になる (see), なさる (do).
• 謙譲語 (kenjogo, humble): lowers the speaker's action toward a superior. Patterns: お/ご + ます-stem + する, and special verbs — 参る／伺う (go/come), 申す／申し上げる (say), いただく (eat/receive), 拝見する (see), いたす (do).

Trap: never apply 尊敬語 to your own actions or 謙譲語 to the listener's. 私が召し上がります is wrong — use いただきます. From the bank: ご不明な点がございましたら、遠慮なくお問い合わせください — the request form お + 問い合わせ + ください is the honorific way to invite the listener's action. Watch also for the humble お/ご + ます-stem + する used correctly for one's own action toward a superior (ご説明いたします, 'I will explain').