Meaning

Primary

To End

Alternative

To Be Over

Word Type

intransitive verb, transitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means end, so this verb means to end or to be over.

Verbs ending in okurigana that rhyme with ある tend to be intransitive, and 終わる is usually intransitive too. But sometimes it can be transitive and take a direct object. Kind of like "to end" in English — you can say the class ends (intransitive) or a teacher ends their class (transitive).

Reading

おわる
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:

This situation has to end. You're the ower (おわ) of a lot of money. For this to end, you need to pay back all that money. Try to think of ways to stop being an ower so this stressful situation can end!

Context

Common Word Combinations

  • 食事が終わる

    to finish a meal

    しごとが終わる

    work ends, a job is finished

    話が終わる

    conversation ends, story ends

Context Sentences

夏休みが終わる前に、海に行きたいです。

I want to go to the ocean before the summer vacation is over.

今日のクラスは全て終わりました。

Today's class is all done.

スタジオの前の道路の工事が中々終わらないので、ポッドキャストのレコーディングに集中できません。

The construction of the road in front of the studio is taking time to be completed, so I can't concentrate on recording podcasts.

Kanji Composition