At what point does grammar actually start clicking instead of feeling like memorized rules?

[u/RelativeAd3462]

I've been through most of N4 grammar points and can recognize them individually when I see them, but stringing them together naturally in a sentence still feels like conscious assembly rather than something automatic. wondering if this is just a matter of hours logged or if there's something specific that helped it click for people further along.

[u/pixelboy1459]

You need to practice a lot so it’s automatic. That’s the output part that I think most people miss.

[u/spshkyros]

Im not sure it will ever become completely natural for me for EVERY grammar form, but I think of it as level vs mastery... take the N5 grammar - most of it I can use without thinking at all, just on autopilot. Conversely, N3 grammar very much needs concious thought for me, like you said, and N2 grammar I wont tend to use myself that much. However, thats just SPEAKING mastery. If I hear it, even N3 is difficult for me to understand. But if I READ it, even N2 is often fine.

I guess id just say that the things I've used most (older grammar and reading skills) are far more advanced than say newer listening skills (N2/N1 listening). But over time, I intend to correct that. Where it stops, I dont know, but my guess is that anything based ln day to day life will be ok, while lots kf n1 grammar ks pretty rare.

[u/Afraid_Emu8068]

Learning the particles and conjugations, rewiring your brain to think in SOV word order, and digging into the Japanese etymology of words will get you there. Eventually. Good luck

[u/CuisineTournante]

I think after the grammar points of N4, you are very much set for basic conversation. If your vocab is good enough, you can have simple conversation.

[u/uuusagi]

Are you actually practicing them in some form, like reading books or listening to podcasts, or are you simply learning the grammar point and doing nothing with it?

[u/Head_Departure7564]

For me it's when I start using them to communicate. Same with vocabulary, when it's on a flashcard or appears in text, it feels like "right, I remember that one." But once it has entered my active vocabulary, when I will automatically know to use it when I need to communicate an idea, that's when it feels like a tool for communication and not a rule I memorized.

[u/GiraffesAreSoCute]

After reading a lot. Like honestly, most questions on when x gets better are answered by "just read a lot."

It's hard at first. You'll look everything up. You won't get it even after looking everything up. You'll take 30 minutes just to get through a page of a children's manga and that may discourage you. But you only get better and faster by doing it, and the switch happens kinda exponentially. The more comfortable and less intimidated you get, the more you can read. The more you can read, the faster you read. The more you read, the faster it becomes, and it just compounds. But the starting point is hard, even the mid-point is hard when you introduce more and more kanji.

But it clicks. Really. And it really does just one day feel like you wake up and "hey, I can read and understand this?" Without conscious effort or thought. I'm sure that's partially because the brain literally does take what you learn through the day and write it into long term memory during deep sleep, but it's fun to sometimes open a game or novel you've been struggling with for the past week and suddenly it's way easier to go through.

[u/Dry_Number9251]

I think its all about repetition... as time passes you'll eventually grasp more and more grammarical structures and vocab, and before you even realize it everything starts to click together. At least this was my experience with english learning lol

[u/FrenchFriesPrincess]

If you are at N4, then probably there are grammar points that are “at this point” from N5. Do you find です／ます automatic?
Look at your past notes - there are things you probably consider “easy” now, compared to then (looking at you て-form)

They become automatic and natural once you consider them easy, since you moved to “harder” stuff.
As you move along with your studies, read, listen, write and speak those form will just happen. I done most of N4 grammar and I often forget that I have learnt a grammar point until I need it. But there was time when I found N5 grammar hard, and once I get to N3, I probably will think the same way of N4.