Japanese Onomatopoeia for the JLPT: How They Work, With N4 and N3 Lists
ゆっくり, がっかり, ぐっすり. You probably know a few of these already without thinking of them as a group. Japanese has thousands of sound and feeling words, and at N4 and N3 they start turning up in the vocabulary paper. Here is how they are built, how to fit them into a sentence, and the sixteen you should know first.
What Onomatopoeia Are in Japanese
In English, onomatopoeia means words like bang or buzz that copy a sound. Japanese uses the word オノマトペ more widely. It covers two families:
- 擬音語 (giongo), sound words. ざあざあ is heavy rain, わんわん is a dog, どんどん is someone banging on a door.
- 擬態語 (gitaigo), manner and feeling words. きらきら is sparkling, ゆっくり is slowly, いらいら is the feeling of being irritated. None of these make a sound.
The linguist Haruhiko Kindaichi split these two families into five finer groups, separating human and animal voices from other sounds, and states of objects from states of living things and from feelings. For the JLPT you only need the two big families. Most of what you will be tested on is the second one, the words that describe how something is done or how someone feels.
Shogakukan's Nihongo Onomatope Jiten (2007) lists about 4,500 of them. Do not let that number worry you. At N4 and N3 you need a small, predictable set.
The Five Shapes Most of Them Take
Japanese onomatopoeia are built from a short base plus a few markers: repetition, small っ, ん, り, and a long vowel. A 1999 count of 1,647 words (Hinata and Sasame, reported by NINJAL) found that five shapes cover most of them. ABAB alone is almost a quarter.
| Shape | Examples | Typical feel |
|---|---|---|
| ABAB | わくわく · どきどき · いらいら | Repetition. Often something that goes on or happens again and again. |
| ABっ | きらっ · にこっ | One short moment. |
| ABり | ぐるり · ずばり | A single movement or result. |
| AっBり | しっかり · ゆっくり · ばったり | Emphatic. Many describe a state or how an action is done. |
| ABん | がちゃん · ぽかん | A sound or impact that rings out, or a blank moment. |
One base can produce a whole family. From ばた you get ばたばた, ばたっ, ばたり, ばたん, ばたーん and ばったり, all about something falling or flapping. Once you see the base, a new word stops being a new word.
The shape changes the picture. にこにこ is someone who keeps smiling; にっこり is one warm smile. I tell students to treat the column on the right as a tendency, not a rule. It will help you guess, and a dictionary will confirm.
How They Fit Into a Sentence
This is where most mistakes happen. An onomatopoeia is not a verb by itself. It needs something attached, and each word has its favourite partners.
The classic adverb. と is optional for many words, especially AっBり ones.
Turns the word into a verb. Feelings are almost always used this way.
Works like a な-adjective or a noun. Not every word allows it.
A state you end up in. ぼろぼろ is not on the list above; it is here only to show the pattern.
The list below gives the pattern each word is actually used with. Learn the pattern together with the word: がっかりする, not just がっかり.
N4 Onomatopoeia List
The JLPT has not published an official vocabulary list since 2010. These are the words from the N4 list we use in Nihongo Pass. Several look like ordinary adverbs, and at this level that is how you should learn them.
ゆっくり(と) + verb · ゆっくりする
もう少しゆっくり話してください。
Please speak a little more slowly.
はっきり(と) + verb · はっきりする
自分の意見をはっきり言いましょう。
Say what you think, clearly.
しっかり + verb · しっかりした + noun
出かける前に窓をしっかり閉めてください。
Close the windows properly before you go out.
すっかり + verb (often 〜た / 〜ていた)
宿題のことをすっかり忘れていた。
I had completely forgotten about the homework.
どんどん + verb
雨がどんどん強くなってきた。
The rain kept getting heavier.
そろそろ + verb
もう遅いから、そろそろ帰りましょう。
It is late, so let's head home soon.
Some dictionaries treat this as a plain adverb. NINJAL's onomatopoeia list includes it, because of the older “slowly and quietly” meaning.
N3 Onomatopoeia List
At N3 the feeling words arrive: irritation, disappointment, a careless slip. Every one of these has a する form or a fixed partner verb.
いらいらする
電車がなかなか来なくて、いらいらした。
The train just would not come, and I got irritated.
うっかり + verb · うっかりする
うっかり財布を家に忘れてきた。
I carelessly left my wallet at home.
がっかりする
楽しみにしていた旅行が中止になって、がっかりした。
The trip I was looking forward to was cancelled, and I was disappointed.
ぐっすり + 寝る / 眠る
昨日は疲れていたので、ぐっすり眠れた。
I was tired yesterday, so I slept soundly.
さっぱりする · さっぱり〜ない
説明を聞いても、さっぱりわからない。
Even after the explanation, I don't understand it at all.
〜にそっくりだ · そっくりの + noun
彼はお父さんにそっくりだ。
He looks just like his father.
たっぷり + verb · たっぷりある
時間はたっぷりあるから、急がなくていいよ。
We have plenty of time, so there is no need to hurry.
にっこり(と) + 笑う · にっこりする
子どもは私を見て、にっこり笑った。
The child looked at me and gave a smile.
ばったり + 会う / 倒れる
駅で昔の友達にばったり会った。
I ran into an old friend at the station.
ぴったりだ · ぴったり + 合う
この靴は私の足にぴったりだ。
These shoes fit my feet perfectly.
You will also hear どきどき (heart pounding) and わくわく (excited) all the time. They are not on our N4 or N3 lists, but they are so common in everyday Japanese that you will pick them up anyway.
Pairs That Are Easy to Mix Up
にこにこ vs にっこり
にこにこ is a smile that stays on someone's face: いつもにこにこしている人, a person who is always smiling. にっこり is one smile, often in response to something: 目が合うと、にっこり笑った, when our eyes met, she smiled.
いらいら vs がっかり
Both are unhappy, and students swap them. いらいら is impatience while something is still going on: the bus is late, the queue is not moving. がっかり comes after a result that was worse than you hoped: the trip was cancelled, the score was low. Ask yourself whether it is still happening or already over.
しっかり vs すっかり
One sound apart and completely different. しっかり is about doing something properly or holding it firmly. すっかり is about a change that has fully happened, so it sits with 〜た and 〜ていた: すっかり忘れていた, すっかりよくなった. If the sentence is about a finished change, it is すっかり.
さっぱり: pleasant or negative?
After a shower you feel さっぱり, refreshed. Food can be さっぱり, light. But followed by a negative it flips: さっぱりわからない means you understand nothing at all. Check what comes after it before you decide what it means.
Where They Show Up on the JLPT
From N4 upward, the vocabulary paper has three question types that suit onomatopoeia well. The descriptions below are the official aims published on jlpt.jp.
- 文脈規定 (context). Choose the word that fits the sentence. A blank before 眠れた is a good sign the answer is ぐっすり.
- 言い換え類義 (paraphrase). Choose the expression closest in meaning. Here you need to explain the word in plain Japanese, for example ぐっすり ≈ よく, うっかり ≈ 気をつけていなくて.
- 用法 (usage). Four sentences use the same word; choose the one that uses it correctly. This is where the grammar partners matter. A sentence that says がっかりに or ぐっすり食べる is wrong.
In the listening paper they appear naturally in conversation, especially the feeling words, because they are how people talk about their day.
Try one (my own practice question, not from a real test)
昨日は早く寝たので、（ ）眠れた。
1. ぐっすり 2. がっかり 3. うっかり 4. すっかり
Answer: 1. がっかり and うっかり need する or a different verb, and すっかり describes a finished change, not how well you slept.
Tips by First Language
Tiếng Việt
Vietnamese already has the same two families: từ tượng thanh (sound words, like róc rách) and từ tượng hình (manner words, like lom khom), and many of them are từ láy. The idea will feel familiar. The new part is the grammar: a Japanese word needs と, する or だ attached, so learn each one as a phrase.
Bahasa Indonesia
Indonesian repeats words for grammar and emphasis: pelan-pelan, cepat-cepat. Japanese ABAB is different. いらいら is not いら said twice for emphasis; it is one word, and いら on its own is not something you will ever say. Treat the repeated form as the dictionary form.
Монгол хэл
Mongolian builds verbs straight from sound-imitating roots, as in шаржигнах or хавжигнах. Japanese does something similar with する: いらいらする, がっかりする. If you already think of these as verbs, you are halfway there. Just remember that in Japanese the root stays unchanged and する does all the work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between giongo and gitaigo?
Giongo (擬音語) imitate a real sound, like ざあざあ for heavy rain or わんわん for a dog. Gitaigo (擬態語) describe something that makes no sound, like きらきら for sparkling or にこにこ for smiling. Feelings such as いらいら and わくわく are usually grouped with gitaigo. In everyday Japanese, both are simply called オノマトペ.
How many onomatopoeia does Japanese have?
Shogakukan's Nihongo Onomatope Jiten (2007) lists about 4,500 entries. You do not need anywhere near that for the JLPT. The sixteen words on this page come from the N4 and N3 vocabulary lists we use in the app, and they cover the ones you are most likely to meet at those levels.
Should I write onomatopoeia in hiragana or katakana?
Both are correct. Hiragana is the default in normal sentences and in JLPT questions. Katakana is common for sound effects in manga and adverts, where it looks louder: ドキドキ, ワクワク. Read both; write hiragana.
Sources: word shapes from NINJAL's onomatopoeia column (based on Hinata and Sasame, 1999); meanings checked against NINJAL's Nihongo o Tanoshimou! Giongo tte nani? site; question types from jlpt.jp.
When to Use Katakana →
Including sound effects
The Small っ →
The beat inside ゆっくり
N4 vs N3 →
What changes on the paper
Practise them until they stick
Nihongo Pass brings each word back just before you would forget it, with context questions in the same format as the JLPT vocabulary paper.