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N5 graded Japanese story

交番にとどいた財布

Returning a Lost Wallet at the Police Box

20 sentences · about 7 minutes

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N5 · 20 sentences

Start reading · 7 min left

1 / 20 sentences5%

Reinforce the reading

Notice what the story just taught you

The story follows one clear sequence using polite ます forms, everyday station and public-service vocabulary, simple location phrases, direct questions, and basic adjective linking.

Key words in context

財布さいふ
wallet
持ち主もちぬし
owner
交番こうばん
neighborhood police box
様子ようす
appearance or identifying details
返すかえす
to return something

What to notice

  1. Sentence wallet-03

    Two related actions with て

    持ち主を探して、まわりを見ます links Aya’s goal—finding the owner—to the action she takes, looking around.

  2. Sentence wallet-08

    どこで asks where an action happened

    The officer asks どこで見つけましたか; で marks the place where Aya found the wallet.

  3. Sentence wallet-12

    Joining identifying details

    茶色くて links the first description, 'brown,' to the second identifying feature, 小さな星があります.

Check your understanding

1. Where does Aya find the wallet?
  • On an empty station bench
  • Inside the police box
  • On the train

Answer: On an empty station bench — Wallet-02 says Aya sees the brown wallet on a bench where no one is sitting.

2. What does Aya do after no owner can be found nearby?
  • She opens the wallet.
  • She leaves it on the bench.
  • She takes it unopened to the police box.

Answer: She takes it unopened to the police box. — Wallet-05 says she does not open it, and wallet-06–07 show her taking it to the nearby police box with her father.

3. Which detail helps confirm the wallet belongs to the older woman?
  • A small star
  • A train ticket
  • Aya’s name

Answer: A small star — Aya describes the small star in wallet-12; the woman correctly describes it in wallet-17 before the wallet is returned.

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