Learn Hardcore Japanese: kyou ha sigoto wo hayame ni sumasete, ie de yukkuri simasu. - Today I’ll finish work early and relax at home.

は marks 今日 as the topic of the sentence: “As for today… / Today…”.
The speaker is setting up “today” as the frame, and then saying what will happen regarding today.

今日は: “As for today, I will finish work early and relax at home.”
If you said 今日が仕事を早めに済ませて…, it would sound ungrammatical here, because が usually marks the subject of a verb, and 今日 is not the subject of 済ませて or します (the unspoken “I” is).

Why is 仕事 followed by を (仕事を)? What does を do here?

を marks the direct object of a verb.

仕事を早めに済ませて
→ 仕事 (work) is the thing that gets 済ませる (finished).

So the structure is:

仕事を済ませる = to finish one’s work
早めに modifies 済ませる (“finish early”), but 仕事 is still the object, so it takes を.

What is 早めに exactly? How is it different from just 早く?

早め is a noun-like form built with 早い (early) + め, and に turns it into an adverb: “on the early side / a bit earlier than usual / relatively early”.

早く = simply “early”, “quickly” (plain adverb).
早めに = “somewhat early”, “earlier than usual”, often with a nuance of planning ahead or making sure to be early enough.

In this sentence:

仕事を早めに済ませて
→ “finish work on the early side / earlier than usual.”
It sounds more like a choice or a plan than just “it happens early”.

Could I say 仕事を早く済ませて instead of 早めに済ませて? What’s the nuance difference?

You can say 早く済ませて, and it’s grammatically fine, but the nuance is a bit different.

早く済ませて
- Focuses on the timing: “finish (it) early / quickly”.
- Could mean “as soon as possible,” or “fast,” depending on context.
早めに済ませて
- Implies “a bit earlier than I normally would” or “so that it’s done early enough.”
- Sounds more like a deliberate, slightly-early plan, rather than speed.

In many everyday cases, people choose 早めに because it has that “plan ahead / be slightly early” flavor, which fits well with then relaxing at home.

What does 済ませて mean, and what form is it?

済ませて is the て-form of the verb 済ませる.

Dictionary form: 済ませる
- Meaning: “to finish (something), to get something done, to take care of (a task)”.
- It is transitive (takes a direct object).
済ませて (て-form) is used here to connect this action to the next clause:
- “(I) finish my work early, and then / and / after that (I) relax at home.”

So the structure is:

仕事を早めに済ませて、家でゆっくりします。
→ “I’ll finish my work a bit early, and (then) relax at home.”

What’s the difference between 済ませる and 終わる / 終える for “to finish”?

All can relate to “finishing”, but they’re used a bit differently:

終わる
- Intransitive: “to end / to be over”.
- 仕事が終わる = “The work ends / is over.”
終える
- Transitive: “to finish (something).”
- 仕事を終える = “to finish the work.”
- A bit more formal/literary than some everyday speech.
済ませる
- Transitive: “to get (something) done, to take care of (a task).”
- Often used for chores, tasks, things you want to clear away:
  - 宿題を済ませる (get homework done)
  - 用事を済ませる (take care of errands)

In this sentence, 仕事を早めに済ませて suggests “get my work out of the way (a bit early).” It has that “clear it off my plate” feeling.

Why is it 家で and not 家に?

で marks the location where an action takes place.

家でゆっくりします。
→ “I will relax at home.”
Home is the place where the action ゆっくりします happens.

に would generally mark a destination or existence:

家に行きます。 = I’m going to home.
家にいます。 = I’m at home (exist there).

For “do X at home,” the natural choice is 家で (place where the action is performed).

Does ゆっくりします literally mean “I will do ‘slowly’”? How does it mean “relax”?

ゆっくり literally means “slowly / at an easy pace,” but in everyday Japanese it very often carries a relax / take it easy nuance.

ゆっくり歩く = to walk slowly.
家でゆっくりする = to relax at home / take it easy at home.

In this sentence:

家でゆっくりします。
→ “I’ll relax at home / I’ll take it easy at home,”
not “I will act slowly at home” in a literal sense.

Why can ゆっくりします stand alone without an object? Is する just “to do” here?

Yes, する here is a very general “to do,” and ゆっくり is acting as an adverb-like expression that almost becomes the “thing you do”:

Literally: “I will do (things) in a relaxed / unhurried way at home.”
Idiomatically: “I will relax at home.”

You don’t need an object like 何かを (“do something slowly”); ゆっくりする is a common set phrase meaning “to relax / to take it easy.”

Why is there a comma after 済ませて (…済ませて、家で…)? Does it change the grammar?

The comma doesn’t change the grammar; it’s just punctuation for readability.

The core grammar is: 済ませて家でゆっくりします。
The て-form of 済ませる connects two actions:
1. finish work early
2. relax at home

The comma:

Makes the sentence easier to read.
Slightly emphasizes the pause between “finishing work” and “relaxing at home,” which matches natural spoken rhythm.

You could write it without the comma and it would still be correct:
今日は仕事を早めに済ませて家でゆっくりします。

Can some particles be dropped in casual speech, like saying 今日仕事早めに済ませて家でゆっくりします?

Yes, in spoken casual Japanese, particles are often dropped when the meaning is still clear from context. For example:

今日は仕事を早めに済ませて、家でゆっくりします。 (full)
→ 今日、仕事早めに済ませて、家でゆっくりする。 (casual, particles dropped, verb made casual)

Points to note:

Dropping は after 今日 and を after 仕事 is common in speech.
で after 家 is usually kept because it helps clarify the role of 家.
When you drop particles, the style becomes more casual, and you rely more on context.

For learners, it’s better to learn and use the full, particle-rich version first, and then get used to hearing (and maybe using) dropped particles in casual contexts.