How do you say "end" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "end" is 終わる (owaru). It is a verb pronounced "oh-wah-roo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

終わる is written in kanji and hiragana. Romanised as owaru, it sounds roughly like "oh-wah-roo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

週末に終わりますつもりです。

Shuumatsu ni owarimasu tsumori desu.

I plan to to end this weekend.

Usage notes

終わる means to end in Japanese. This is an everyday verb that learners encounter early. Mastering its masu form (終わります) and te-form opens up many sentence patterns.

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Questions about 終わる

How do you pronounce 終わる?

終わる is romanised as owaru. Say it roughly like "oh-wah-roo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 終わる formal or casual?

終わる is the plain (dictionary) form, used in casual speech and in dictionaries. For polite situations, verbs take a different ending, typically -masu. In Noun Town the game always shows the dictionary form.

How is 終わる written in Japanese?

終わる is written using kanji and hiragana. Kanji characters carry the core meaning; any hiragana or katakana that follow show grammatical endings.

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation.