shiken no mae ni, daijina pointo dake yomikaeshimasu

possessive case particle

Breakdown of shiken no mae ni, daijina pointo dake yomikaeshimasu

• に: time particle
• 試験しけん: exam
• 前まえ: before

Questions & Answers about shiken no mae ni, daijina pointo dake yomikaeshimasu

What does 試験の前に mean, and what are の and に doing here?

試験の前に means before the exam.

• 試験 = exam
• 前 = front / before
• の links 試験 and 前, so 試験の前 literally means the exam’s before, or more natural English, the time before the exam
• に marks the time point when the main action happens

So the structure is:

[event/time] の 前 に = before [event/time]

A useful point: 前 is a noun in Japanese, not a preposition like English before.

Why is it 大事なポイント and not 大事いポイント?

大事 is a na-adjective.

That means:

• before a noun, it takes な
• at the end of a sentence, it does not use い

So:

• 大事なポイント = important points
• このポイントは大事です = this point is important

This is different from an i-adjective like 高い:

• 高い山 = a tall mountain

So 大事な is correct because 大事 belongs to the na-adjective group.