LEARN + JAPANESE / Note 89 JLPT N4
Starting, Finishing (〜はじめる・おわる)
はじめる (to start) and おわる (to finish) attach directly to a verb’s stem, the part right before ます, turning any verb into “start doing X” or “finish doing X.”
I started talking at age two.
I started studying Japanese at thirteen.
In Real Life
話す becomes 話しはじめる, 勉強する becomes 勉強しはじめる, the stem attaches directly with no extra connector needed, exactly the same mechanism that builds たい and たがる onto a verb.
Did you finish cleaning the room?
Did you finish making the sandwiches?
In Real Life
終わる only works on verbs that describe something with a natural endpoint, cleaning a room, writing a report, eating a meal. It doesn’t attach comfortably to a state or an ongoing condition with no clear finish line, the same restriction that shapes which verbs 〜てしまう prefers later on.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| to fall (rain, snow) | |
| to wipe | |
| to set (a table) | |
| sandwich | |
| bicycle | |
| to learn, take lessons in | |
| to work | |
| to continue | |
| midway, in the middle of | |
| to complete | |
| to get started on | |
| conclusion, end | |
| start, commencement | |
| gradually | |
| suddenly | |
| for a while | |
| finally, at last | |
| at long last | |
| half | |
| to the very end |