Everyday activities: time, food, health and travel
Use simple Japanese to describe routines and make sense of everyday plans.
Exam scope and assessment notes
This is an original mapped starter, not the recommended full course of about 130 guided learning hours. All Japanese examples, translations, grammar explanations, kanji groupings, listening scripts and pronunciation aids require review by a qualified Japanese-language teacher before publication is described as complete. Browser speech is supplemental, not Cambridge audio. Speaking rehearsal and writing feedback are formative and do not reproduce a live examiner or award official marks. The linked vocabulary workbook has not been reconciled word by word.
Before you begin
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
Which approach gives the most reliable Japanese response?
What you will learn
- Understand and communicate times, daily activities, food, health and travel details.
- Connect an action to when and where it happens.
Build a clear daily sequence
「毎朝七時に起きます。朝ごはんを食べて、バスで学校へ行きます。」 means “I get up at seven each morning, eat breakfast, and go to school by bus.” The time particle に marks the clock time; て links the actions.
When following a plan, keep the time attached to the correct action. Distinguish departure time from arrival time or duration.
Use a practical response
Everyday exchanges can ask for a meal, explain a simple need or check a route. Name the item or destination and give the requested detail.
These original examples are practice, not medical advice or Cambridge exam material.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
What does に do in 「七時に起きます」?
Worked example
A note says 「電車は八時に駅を出ます。学校には八時半に着きます。」 When does the train leave, and when does it arrive at school?
Show the worked solution
- Find the two time expressions.
- Match each time to the verb beside it.
- Keep departure separate from arrival.
Answer The train leaves the station at eight and arrives at school at half past eight.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
A student gets up at six, eats breakfast, then takes a train. Put these actions into a clear Japanese sequence.
Give me a hint
Use a time with に and て to connect actions.
Compare my reasoning
- Start with 「六時に起きます」.
- Link breakfast with 「食べて」.
- State the train journey next.
One possible sequence is 「六時に起きます。朝ごはんを食べて、電車で学校へ行きます。」 It gives the time, meal and transport in order.
Look for these in your work
- Includes the time
- Connects actions in order
- Names transport
Read 「昼ごはんを食べませんでした。午後は病院へ行きました。」 What happened at lunch and later?
Give me a hint
Check the past negative before reporting the second sentence.
Compare my reasoning
- Find 食べませんでした.
- Identify 午後.
- Report only stated events.
The person did not eat lunch and went to the hospital in the afternoon. The text does not say why.
Look for these in your work
- Recognises past negative
- Reports both events
- Avoids inventing a reason
A visitor must reach a station by 10:00 and the bus ride takes 25 minutes. Give a concise plan in Japanese.
Give me a hint
Work backwards from arrival time and state the route.
Compare my reasoning
- Subtract 25 minutes from 10:00.
- State a suitable departure time.
- Name the bus and destination.
For example: 「十時までに駅に着くために、九時三十五分にバスに乗ります。」 This leaves 25 minutes for the stated ride; it does not allow for delays. Review the Japanese before publication.
Look for these in your work
- Calculates departure time
- Uses a purpose expression
- Names destination
Common mistakes
- Attaching a time to the wrong action
- Confusing a point in time with a duration
- Adding an unstated health explanation
What can you explain now?
What does に do in 「七時に起きます」?
Compare with the explanation
It marks the time of waking
The action is waking; 七時 is its time.
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Make it stick
Explain one idea from memory, answer the checkpoint, and name a Japanese form or reading that needs checking.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.