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How to use

Designed to help you progress once you’re comfortable with the basics. Use it as supplementary material alongside your studies.

Pick a school grade or JLPT level and do this each day:

  1. Handwrite the passage in a notebook.
  2. Read the passage out loud.
  3. Understand the meaning of the passage (if you need help, check the English translation).
  4. Take note of the grammar points (try understanding them in Japanese first; if you need help, refer to the English translation).
N3高1 · High School 1September 12, 2026

ちいさなげきじょうでみたしばい

せんしゅう、だいがくじだいのゆうじんにさそわれて、えきまえのちいさなげきじょうでじょうえんされているしばいをみにいった。ものがたりは、ながねんはなれてくらしていたちちとむすめがさいかいするはなしで、やくしゃたちはおおげさなえんぎをすることなく、しずかなせりふだけでかんきゃくのこころをうごかした。ぶたいをみおえるたびに、じぶんのかぞくのことをかんがえさせられるさくひんだった。しばらくじっかにかえっていないわたしは、まくがおりたあともせきをたたず、しばらくかんがえこんでいた。

文法

  • 「〜たびに」は、ある動作どうさが起おこるときはいつも、同おなじ結果けっかや気持きもちが伴ともなうことを表あらわす表現ひょうげん。
  • 「〜ことなく」は、ある動作どうさや状態じょうたいが一度いちども起おこらないまま、別べつのことが行おこなわれることを表あらわす、やや書かき言葉ことば的てきな表現ひょうげん。
  • 「〜させられる」は、自分じぶんの意志いしとは関係かんけいなく、外部がいぶの力ちからによって、ある感情かんじょうを持もたされたり、ある行動こうどうを取とらされたりすることを表あらわす表現ひょうげん。
English

A Play I Saw at a Small Theater

Last week, an old friend from my university days invited me, and I went to see a play being performed at a small theater near the station. The story was about a father and daughter reuniting after living apart for many years; rather than acting in an exaggerated way, the actors moved the audience's hearts with quiet lines alone. Every time I watch a stage like that, it makes me think about my own family. I hadn't been back to my parents' house in a while, and even after the curtain fell, I couldn't get up from my seat, sitting there lost in thought for some time.

  • "~たびに" means 'every time ~' or 'whenever ~', expressing that a certain result or feeling always accompanies a repeated action.
  • "~ことなく" is a somewhat literary expression meaning 'without ever ~ing', describing that another action takes place while a certain action or state never occurs even once.
  • "~させられる" (causative-passive) expresses that one is made to feel a certain emotion or take a certain action by some outside force, regardless of one's own will, often used to describe being moved or prompted to think or feel something.
All High School 1 paragraphs