End: ～終わる・終える, & ～やむ
In this lesson, we will learn about the compound verb endings (V2) ～終わる, ～終える, and ～やむ, all of which pertain to V1 coming to a close.
The Transitivity of 終わる & 終える
The concept of “to end/finish” is handled by the intransitive-transitive verb pair 終わる・終える. Typically, one would expect 終わる to not take direct objects and for 終える to take direct objects. Yet, 終わる happens to be one of many intransitive verbs that can be repurposed as a transitive verb. In the case of 終わる, its intransitive and transitive nuances differ in how agency manifests.
| ～が終わる | Event X ends with no implied agent resulting in X’s conclusion. |
| ～を終わる | An agent does conclude Event X, but the volition of the agent is not pertinent. |
| ～を終える | An agent actively goes about concluding Event X. |
1. 授業1が終わった。
Class ended.
2. 道路はここで終わっている2。
The road ends here.
3. 先生は講義を終えましたか。
Has the teacher concluded his lecture?
4. 昨夜の演奏は歌って終わった。
Last night’s performance ended with singing.
5. 試合は引き分けに終わった。
The game ended in a tie.
6. 動物の権利活動家らが抗議を終えましたが、反対の声をあげつづけるそうです。
The animal rights activists ending the protest, but they are to continue raising voices of opposition.
7. 修理を終えましたか。
Did you finish the repairs?
8a. 会議を終わる。
8b. 会議を終える。
8c. 会議が終わる。
8a. To wrap up a/the meeting.
8b. To end a/the meeting.
8c. For a/the meeting to end.
～終わる・終える as V2 in Compound Verbs
In compounds, ～終わる and ～終える behave just as they do in isolation. Naturally, ～終える is restricted to transitive V1, and as such, the completion of V1 marked by ～終える is felt to be a purposeful outcome by the agent. Meanwhile, ～終わる is typically not used with V1 which do not pertain to an agent’s volition, which largely limits it to transitive V1. While V1 does conclude due to the agent’s action(s), the completion of the action seems more consequential than necessarily being driven to complete V1 as is the case with ～終える. In totality, ～終える is not nearly as common as ～終わる, which is likely due to just how strongly it conveys the agent’s volition in finishing V1.
9. ローンを払い終わりました。
I finished paying off the loan.
10. 宿題をし終えて、外へ遊びに行った。
I finished my homework and went outside to play.
11. その本を読み終えましたか。
Did you finish reading that book?
12. 早くやり終える。
To get it over with.
13. 彼は歌い終わりました。
He finished singing.
14. 小説を書き終えた。
I ended writing the novel.
15. 彼が意見を言い終わるか終わらないうちに、あの人は邪魔をして口を挟んだ。
Before he could finish saying his opinion, that person interjected himself.
While ～終わる is mostly used with transitive verbs, it is still on occasion paired with intransitive V1 which pertain to states that take some time to transpire so long as an agent can be foreseen in the background which would be overseeing the conclusion of the action. Even so, ～終わる is never paired with intransitive verbs pertaining to natural phenomenon as well as verbs with spontaneous onsets (降る, 吹く, 泣く, etc.). Without an agent in the overarching context, other endings such as ～切る become far more natural options.
16. バターを焦がして、焦げ終わる直前にシナモンを加えてください。
Brown the butter, and right before it finishes browning, add cinnamon.
17. 洗剤が溶け｛終わった 〇・切った ◎｝のを確認した。
I made sure that the detergent finished dissolving.
～やむ
Interestingly, the verb intransitive verb 止む meaning “to stop/quit” is also used in compound verbs, specifically with V1 pertaining to actions with spontaneous onsets like “to laugh/cry” and weather phenomena such as “to rain” for which attaching ～終わる is ungrammatical.
18a. 雨が降り止んだ。〇
18b. 雨が止んだ。〇
18c. 雨が降り終わった。X
It stopped raining.
19. その子はやっと泣き止んだ。
That child finally stopped crying.
The use of ～止む is quite limited, and for most intransitive instances of “to stop/quit,” either the use of 止む as a standalone verb or other verbs such as 止まる become more appropriate with nouns or nominalized expressions.
20. 風が（吹き）やんだ。
The wind stopped (blowing).
21. 騒動がやんだ。
The turmoil stopped.
22. 時が止まった。
Time stopped/froze.
23. すると、身体が沈むのが止まった。
Then, my body stopped sinking.
To Quit Doing
While 止む may mean “to stop/quit” in an intransitive sense, it begs the question how one would express “to stop/quit” in a transitive sense. Although the transitive verb 止める does exist in this capacity and is frequently seen with nouns and nominalized expressions to that effect, it does not attach directly to the 連用形 of V1.
24. 彼はスペイン語を勉強するのをやめた。
He stopped studying Spanish.
25. 毎日掃除するのをやめた。
I stopped cleaning daily.
26. 考えるのをやめた。
I quit thinking (about it).
Similar to the last pattern, ～ないようになる indicates a new state of being in which Event X is not done. This could indicate a change in habit (Ex. 27) or a some consequence that was not necessarily intentional but still caused by the agent’s action(s) (Ex. 28).
27. 彼はタバコを吸わないようになった。
He stopped smoking.
28. 私はそれを表示できないようになってしまいました。
I ended up not being able to display it.
- クラスが終わった for “class ended” would be fairly unnatural, as クラス generally refers to the “group/body of the class.” While it could also refer to one’s “class” in the sense of “homeroom” such that 終わる would not be nonsensical, 授業 would still be the natural word choice. ↩︎
- The use of ～ている denotes that the state of the road terminating at the juncture has been the case and remains so. ↩︎