Daily routine and shift work: 〜た後で, 〜ながら and 〜までに

Welcome to JLPT N4. At N5 you learned to talk about one action at a time; at N4 you start joining actions together — what you do first, what you do at the same time and what has to be finished by when. Early, day and night shifts are part of life for many people who work in Japan, so this first lesson is about your daily routine.

The JLPT has not published official grammar, vocabulary or kanji lists since 2010. “N4” on TalkToJapan means the commonly accepted N4 lists. This course assumes you know everything in our 28 N5 lessons, including all 110 of their kanji.

Morning, daytime, evening and night

朝 (あさ) is morning, 昼 (ひる) is the middle of the day, 夕方がた (ゆうがた) is late afternoon to early evening, and 夜 (よる) is night. Meals follow the same words: 朝ご飯はん, 昼ご飯はん and 夕ご飯はん (or 晩ばんご飯はん). At work you will hear 昼休み (ひるやすみ) — the lunch break.

Shift word	Meaning
早番はやばん	early shift
日勤にっきん	day shift
遅番おそばん	late shift
夜勤きん	night shift; night work
交代こうたい	shift change; taking turns
休み	day off

Shift times are different at every workplace, so ask on your first day: 早番はやばんは何時から何時までですか — “What are the hours of the early shift?”

After doing: 〜た後で

Put the た-form (N5 lesson 27) before 後で (あとで): シャワーをあびた後で、ねます — “After I take a shower, I go to bed.” With a noun, use の後で: 仕事しごとの後で、スーパーに行きます — “After work I go to the supermarket.”

The verb before 後で is always in the た-form, even when you talk about the future: 仕事しごとが終おわった後で、電話します — “I’ll call after work finishes.” It is the mirror image of dictionary form + 前に from N5 lesson 26: ねる前に (before going to bed), 起きた後で (after getting up).

〜てから (N5 lesson 26) and 〜た後で are close. 〜てから stresses the order of steps (“first …, then …”) and is the natural choice in instructions. 〜た後で simply places the second action some time after the first, and it also works with nouns.

While doing: 〜ながら

Take the ます-stem and add ながら: 聞きます → 聞きながら. 音楽おんがくを聞きながら、電車に乗のります — “I listen to music while I ride the train.” The main action comes at the end of the sentence; the ながら action is the background one. One person does both actions.

ます form	ながら form	Meaning
食べます	食べながら	while eating
飲みます	飲みながら	while drinking
見ます	見ながら	while watching
話します	話しながら	while talking
歩あるきます	歩あるきながら	while walking
します	しながら	while doing

Some things are better not done ながら. You may see notices at stations asking people not to look at their phones while walking (歩あるきスマホ), and many workplaces do not allow phones on the work floor at all.

By a deadline: 〜までに and 〜まで

まで (N5) means “until”: the action continues up to that point. までに means “by”: the action happens once, at some point before the deadline.

• 五時まではたらきます — I work until five (the whole time).
• 五時までに報告ほうこくしてください — Please report by five (once, any time before five).
• 金曜日までにこの紙かみを出してください — Please hand in this form by Friday.

At work までに is everywhere: forms, reports and shift requests all have a deadline. If you are not sure, ask いつまでですか — “Until when? / By when?”

A shift routine

An original example — a worker at a food factory describes an early-shift day:

早番はやばんの日は、朝五時に起きます。朝ご飯はんを食べながら、ニュースを見ます。六時にうちを出ます。工場こうじょうに着ついた後で、着替きがえます。仕事しごとは七時から三時までです。昼休みは十二時から一時間です。仕事しごとが終おわった後で、リーダーに報告ほうこくします。夜は日本語を勉強べんきょうして、十時までにねます。

On early-shift days I get up at five. I watch the news while I eat breakfast. I leave home at six. After I arrive at the factory, I change my clothes. Work is from seven to three. The lunch break is one hour from twelve. After work finishes, I report to the leader. In the evening I study Japanese and go to bed by ten.

New kanji: 朝, 昼, 夜, 夕, 起

These are the first five kanji of the commonly accepted N4 list. 朝 (あさ) — morning: 毎朝 (まいあさ, every morning). 昼 (ひる) — noon, daytime: 昼休み. 夜 (よる) — night: 今夜 (こんや, tonight). 夕 (ゆう) — evening: 夕方がた. 起 — to get up: 起きます (おきます). Readings, stroke counts and example words are in the Kanji section below.

Common mistakes

• Dictionary form before 後で: 食べる後で ✗ → 食べた後で ✓. Before 後で always use the た-form.
• Forgetting の after a noun: 仕事しごと後で ✗ → 仕事しごとの後で ✓.
• Dictionary form before ながら: 聞くながら ✗ → 聞きながら ✓ (ます-stem).
• ながら with two different people: わたしが料理りょうりをしながら、友だちがテレビを見ます ✗. ながら needs one person; use two sentences instead.
• Mixing up まで and までに: 金曜日まで出してください sounds like “keep handing it in until Friday”. Say 金曜日までに出してください.

How to practise

• Write your own day in five sentences: one with 〜た後で, one with 〜ながら and one with 〜までに.
• Look at your shift schedule and say each day aloud: 月曜日は早番はやばんです.
• Write 朝, 昼, 夜, 夕 and 起 on the worksheet and do the fill-in exercises.