aspect N4 common casualpolitewritten
終わる — finish (doing)
終わる ・ おわる
Builds on 連用形（ます形）
Meaning
- finish ~ing — marks the completion of an action
Key sentence
やっと宿題をやり終わった。
I finally finished doing my homework.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb (ます-stem) | V-stem + 終わる | 話す → 話し終わる |
Examples
この本を読み終わったら貸してね。
When you finish reading this book, lend it to me.
食べ終わった皿を片付けた。
I cleared away the plates I'd finished eating from.
発表の準備を書き終わった。
I finished writing up the presentation prep.
Easily confused with
〜始める The matched onset/end pair: 始める opens an action, 終わる closes it (書き始める / 書き終わる). 〜てしまう Both can mean 'finish', but 終わる is a neutral report that the action reached its end. てしまう adds completeness with feeling — thoroughness, finality, or regret (読んでしまった can carry an 'oops, all gone' tone that 読み終わった never does).
Notes
- 〜終わる pairs with action verbs that have a natural endpoint. The transitive 終える (やり終える) is interchangeable in this compound and sounds a touch more formal.
See 終わる in real sentences
Jengo shows 終わる the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. Editorial confidence: medium.