hi, yes, JLPT N5 require past tense, a good knowledge of basic particles, and some other basic grammar topics. Here is a grammar list for the N5: http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/jlpt5/grammar/ There are also another pages and some official guides you may buy, This is a good site to learn the topics : http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar This one is to practice with some questions of JLPT of passed years: http://learning-japanese-easy.com/ You may search for other pages, but dont forget that JLPT N5 is the old JLPT 4 :) Hope this is usefull for you and your friend.