Learn Hardcore Japanese: sigoto ga owattaato, kazoku to issyo ni bangohan wo tabemasu. - After I finish work, I eat dinner together with my family.

You could say 仕事は終わったあと…, but then 仕事 becomes the topic for the whole sentence (“As for work, after it’s finished…”), which sounds a bit unnatural here because the second part isn’t really “about” work. 仕事が終わったあと is the normal, natural choice.

What is 終わったあと grammatically? What form is 終わった, and what does あと do?

終わった is the plain past form of the verb 終わる (“to finish / to end”).
あと is a noun meaning “after / later / the rest”.

The pattern is:

V-た＋あと = “after doing V”

So:

終わる → 終わった (finished)
終わったあと = “after (it) has finished”

Literally, 仕事が終わったあと means “after work has finished.”

Can you also say 仕事が終わってから? Is there any difference from 終わったあと?

Yes, you can say:

仕事が終わってから、家族と一緒に晩ご飯を食べます。

Both 〜終わったあと and 〜終わってから mean “after (something) finishes”.

Nuance (small and often not important in everyday speech):

〜てから slightly emphasizes the sequence: “first this happens, and then I do …”
〜たあと is a bit more neutral “after ~”.

In this sentence, they are effectively interchangeable and both very natural.

Does 仕事 here mean “my work”, “work in general”, or something else?

In context, 仕事 usually means “my job / my work” unless otherwise specified.

Japanese often omits possessives like 私の when it’s obvious:

仕事が終わったあと → “after (my) work is finished”

If the speaker were talking about someone else’s work, they’d usually clarify, e.g. 父の仕事が終わったあと (“after my father’s work is finished”).

Who is actually eating in this sentence? Why isn’t 私 written?

The implied subject is “I” (or sometimes “we”, depending on context), even though it’s not written.

Japanese often drops pronouns like 私 (“I”) when they’re obvious from context. So:

（私は）仕事が終わったあと、家族と一緒に晩ご飯を食べます。

is fully natural, and 私は is usually omitted unless you need to contrast or emphasize the subject.

What does と mean in 家族と? Is it “with” or “and”?

Here, と means “with”.

When と is used with a person and a verb like 食べる (eat), 会う (meet), 話す (talk), etc., it usually means “together with / with”:

友だちと映画を見ます。 = I watch a movie with my friend.
家族と晩ご飯を食べます。 = I eat dinner with my family.

The “and” meaning appears more when you’re just listing things: りんごとバナナ = “apples and bananas”.

Why do we need both と and 一緒に? Isn’t one of them enough?

Grammatically, either can stand alone:

家族と晩ご飯を食べます。 = I eat dinner with my family.
家族と一緒に晩ご飯を食べます。 = I eat dinner together with my family.

一緒に literally means “together (with)”, and 家族と already implies “with (my) family”.
Using both is very common; it slightly emphasizes the togetherness but is also a set pattern:

X と一緒に V = do V together with X

You wouldn’t normally say 家族一緒に晩ご飯を食べます without と, but you can say simply:

一緒に晩ご飯を食べます。 = I eat dinner together (with them).

What is the role of に after 一緒 in 一緒に?

一緒 by itself is a noun (“togetherness / the same place/time”).

Adding に turns it into an adverbial expression:

一緒に = “together(ly)”

This is similar to:

静か (quiet) → 静かに (quietly)
安全 (safe) → 安全に (safely)

So 一緒に食べます literally means “eat in a together way” → “eat together.”

Why is the last verb 食べます non-past if 終わった looks like past? Is this about a past event or a habit?

In Japanese, subordinate clauses about time often use V-た to show that action is completed before the main verb, not necessarily that it’s in the past overall.

仕事が終わったあと = “after work has finished / is finished (by that time)”

The main verb 食べます is in the polite non-past, which covers:

habitual actions: “I eat dinner (as a routine)”
future plans: “I will eat dinner”

So the sentence can mean:

“After work finishes, I (usually) eat dinner with my family.” (habit)
“After work is over, I’ll eat dinner with my family.” (future plan)

If you wanted a specific past event, you’d say:

仕事が終わったあと、家族と一緒に晩ご飯を食べました。
“After work finished, I ate dinner with my family.”

What’s the difference between 晩ご飯, 夕ご飯, and 夕食?

All can refer to “dinner/supper”, but the nuance/register differs.

晩ご飯 (ばんごはん)
Very common, everyday, friendly. Most families use this.
夕ご飯 (ゆうごはん)
Also “dinner”; used in some regions/families; a bit less standard than 晩ご飯.
夕食 (ゆうしょく)
More formal/polite, used in writing, menus, announcements, hospitals, etc.

In casual conversation, 晩ご飯 (or just 晩ごはん) is the safest, most natural choice.

Is the word order fixed? Could I move 家族と一緒に to another place in the sentence?

The core rule is that the main verb comes at the end, but adverbial parts like 時間 (time) and 相手 (with whom) can move.

Original:

仕事が終わったあと、家族と一緒に晩ご飯を食べます。

Other natural variations:

仕事が終わったあと、晩ご飯を家族と一緒に食べます。
家族と一緒に、仕事が終わったあと、晩ご飯を食べます。 (less common, but possible)

Because particles (が, と, を, に) mark each phrase’s role, word order is somewhat flexible, but your original order is the most natural and neutral.

Can I drop 晩 and just say ご飯を食べます? Would it still mean “eat dinner”?

ご飯 by itself literally means “cooked rice”, but very often it means “a meal” in general.

ご飯を食べます。 = “I eat a meal / I eat (rice).”

Whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner then depends on context (time of day, what you were just talking about, etc.).

Adding 晩 (evening) makes it explicitly “dinner”:

晩ご飯 = the evening meal → dinner/supper.

So yes, in an evening context ご飯を食べます will often be understood as “eat dinner,” but 晩ご飯 is clearer.

Could I say 家族を一緒に晩ご飯を食べます instead of 家族と一緒に?

No, 家族を一緒に晩ご飯を食べます is ungrammatical.

を marks a direct object of the verb.
一緒に is an adverb (“together”), and it does not take an object.

In this sentence, the direct object of 食べます is 晩ご飯 (“dinner”), so 晩ご飯 correctly takes を:

晩ご飯を食べます。

The person you do the action with takes と:

家族と一緒に晩ご飯を食べます。
(together with my family, I eat dinner.)

If you want 家族を, you need a verb that can take 家族 as an object, like:

家族を連れて晩ご飯を食べます。 = I take my family along and eat dinner.

What’s the difference between 仕事が終わる and 仕事を終える? Could I say 仕事を終えたあと?

Yes, you can say:

仕事を終えたあと、家族と一緒に晩ご飯を食べます。

Differences:

終わる – intransitive (“something ends/finishes”)
- 仕事が終わる = “work ends / work finishes”
終える – transitive (“someone finishes something”)
- 仕事を終える = “(I) finish work”

So:

仕事が終わったあと = after work has (come to an end).
仕事を終えたあと = after (I) have finished work (more clearly agent-focused).

Both are correct and natural; the nuance is slight. Just don’t mix them up like 仕事が終えた (wrong) or 仕事を終わった (usually wrong).

Why is there a comma after あと? Is it necessary?

The comma 、 after あと is a normal Japanese way to mark a pause between a subordinate clause and the main clause:

仕事が終わったあと、 (time clause)
家族と一緒に晩ご飯を食べます。 (main clause)

It’s not strictly required; you could write:

仕事が終わったあと家族と一緒に晩ご飯を食べます。

and it would still be grammatical. The comma just makes the structure easier to read and reflects a natural spoken pause.