N4 Grammar Alternate Answers Update!

Bunpro
#1

Hey Everyone! :wave:

Today, I would like to make an announcement regarding the N4 grammar hints!

Unique Hints :memo:

Over the past month, we have gone through a large number of attempted answers for N4 grammar and added a bout 7000 new hints.

These new hints have been written in a way that better guides learners to the answer we are looking for.

For example, for the grammar point なければいけない, if the answer we are looking for is なければいけません and a student submits なくてはなりません, it would trigger a hint that says ‘Could you try conjugating the verb using a more formal grammar point, and use a structure that is slightly less formal than ならない?’. This will show that we are looking for something more formal than なくては, but less formal than the ならない construction.

We decided to write new unique hints instead of solely relying on our standard hints so that you can clearly tell which grammar point we are looking for, instead of getting stuck in a loop of potentially similar answers.

Clear distinction between Alternate and Wrong answers :man_shrugging:

With this new addition of new hints, we have also made a more clear distinction between what we consider an alternate answer and a wrong answer.

:warning: Alternate answers :warning::

  • Correct grammar and conjugation, but tense or politeness is off
    Example: 食べる instead of 食べます.
  • Not the targeted grammar point, but meaning is close
    Example: くらい instead of 頃. (This is a grey area, but if it makes sense in the context of the sentence, we count it as an alternate answer, but if it does not we count it as a wrong answer).
  • Slight entry errors
    Example: ちゆう instead of ちゅう.

:x: Wrong Answers :x::

  • Incorrect grammar usage
    Example: Using にくい when やすい should be used.
  • Ungrammatical answers
    Example: Incorrect conjugation and ungrammatical use of grammar points.

Final Notes :pencil2:

With this update, we only added hints for attempted answers that currently lacked hints, and did not make changes to already existing hints. However, we will likely go through existing hints to ‘fine tune’ them so that they follow the same format, and to improve our hint system for grammar points that have less helpful hints even further.

We will also go through attempted answers for other N levels and add hints for those in the near future. Look out for another post when some of those are done!

Thank you for your continuous support and feedback that helps make Bunpro a great learning tool! We hope that this update improves your learning journey!

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#2

プロのウサギのレビューを終わらなくてはなりません (終わる)

I must clear my Bunpro reviews

Could you try conjugating the verb using a more formal grammar point, and use a structure that is slightly less formal than ならない?

1 Like
#3

Thanks for the added hints!

I wanted to take this chance to ask for clarification on something in N4. If the gap asks for ばかり and I enter ところ, the hint says “Let’s try a different grammar structure that has a weaker nuance.”. For example in: 今の赤ちゃんはうまれたところでしょう.

What is a weaker/stronger nuance? :thinking:
I don’t think this is ever explained.

The grammar page for ばかり states that ばかり implies an effect on the present, while ところ focuses on the time that something happened. In this case, I don’t understand how the nuance of ばかり can be “weaker”.

I think that the weaker/stronger nuance hint shows up in other situations as well.

2 Likes
#4

Just wanted to add a plus one to this. I love the hints, but often find that the info in them isn’t always included in the grammar point write ups so it’s still a bit of a guessing game to understand the different nuances between related grammar.

The new updated synonym description I think we’re helping with this though! Just would ask that the content team makes sure that the terminology used in these blurbs match the language used in the hints as well when possible.

1 Like
#5

Hey @btluppi !

This is one of the ‘already existing standard hints’, and we will look into this further to come up with a more helpful hint!

It seems like this is asking for a ‘weaker nuance’ because たところ is more time sensitive, meaning that it can only be used when the speaker wants to emphasize that something ‘just’ happened. Compared to this たばかり can is not as time sensitive, and is used to express that something happened recently (from the speaker’s perspective).

When a hint asks for a weaker/stronger nuance, it is asking for a grammar point that has a weaker/stronger nuance compared to the grammar point that has been submitted. For example, if a question is asking for きる and おわる is submitted, the hint ‘Let’s try a different grammar pattern with a stronger nuance’ would show up since おわる only marks completion while きる is used to express that something was done to the very end with full effort.

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#6

This is great news, cycling through the ‘almost’ correct answers keeps people going through the same grammar points far longer than they should be, I know its true for me.

Eagerly waiting for when N1 has its hints and related grammar updated, good to see these things are being hit

#7

is this one of the new ones? this is so elaborate. Beautiful!

image
image2173×557 38.5 KB

1 Like
#8

The hint says you would need to input みたいに there, but in this case, wouldn’t Bunpro actually want to see みたいな? みたいに・みたいな (JLPT N4) | Bunpro

2 Likes
#9

you’re right, curry is a noun!

1 Like
#10

Thank you for bringing this to our attention! It has been fixed!

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