Learn Hardcore Japanese: kyou ha sigoto wo hayame ni owarasete, ie de yasumimasu. - Today I will finish work early and rest at home.

今日は: “Today (at least / in contrast to other days) I’ll finish work early and rest at home.”
There’s a slight nuance that today is being highlighted or contrasted with what usually happens.
今日、仕事を早めに終わらせて… is also possible. That sounds a bit more neutral, just giving the time frame without strongly making it the topic.

So 今日は is natural and common when you want to frame the whole sentence around “today.”

Why is 仕事 marked with を? Could I use が or something else?

Here, 仕事を終わらせて is based on the verb 仕事を終わらせる – “to finish (one’s) work.”

を marks 仕事 as the direct object of the verb 終わらせる.
You can’t use が here in normal speech, because 終わらせる takes its object with を:
- ❌ 仕事が終わらせて – ungrammatical
- ✅ 仕事を終わらせて

There is a different, intransitive pattern with 終わる:

仕事が終わる – “The work ends / is over.” (the work itself is the subject)
仕事を終える / 終わらせる – “(I) finish the work.” (someone actively finishes it)

In your sentence, you are actively choosing to finish your work early, so 仕事を終わらせて is appropriate.

What exactly does 早めに mean, and how is it different from 早く?

Both relate to doing something early, but the nuance is different:

早く: simply “early / quickly.”
- 早く帰ります。 – “I’ll go home early.”
早めに: “earlier than usual / relatively early / on the early side.”
- It’s a bit softer and often sounds like:
  - you’re adjusting the timing (compared to normal),
  - or doing something “a bit earlier than you might otherwise.”

In your sentence:

仕事を早く終わらせて – “finish work early” (plain statement)
仕事を早めに終わらせて – “finish work a bit earlier than usual / on the early side”

早め is often used in advice or polite suggestions:

早めに来てください。 – “Please come a little early.”
薬は早めに飲んだほうがいいですよ。 – “It’s better to take the medicine sooner rather than later.”

What kind of word is 早め? Is it an adjective or something else?

早め (はやめ) is a noun-like form built from 早い. It literally means “an early-ish amount/degree” and often appears with に to act adverbially:

早めに行きます。 – “I’ll go a bit early.”

This 〜め pattern is productive in Japanese:

大きめ – on the big side
多め – a bit more / generous amount
少なめ – a bit less
固め – on the firm side

With に, these become adverbs:

多めに入れてください。 – “Please put in a bit more.”
固めに茹でてください。 – “Boil it a bit firm.”

So here, 早めに is “on the early side (in terms of time).”

What form is 終わらせて, and how is it related to 終わる?

終わらせて is the -て form of 終わらせる.

Dictionary form: 終わらせる
ます-form: 終わらせます
て-form: 終わらせて

終わらせる is the causative form of the intransitive verb 終わる:

終わる – “to end / to be over” (intransitive)
終わらせる – literally “to make (something) end,” i.e. “to finish (something)” (transitive)

In everyday Japanese, 終わらせる is just felt as “to finish [something]”:

宿題を終わらせる – “finish homework.”
仕事を終わらせる – “finish work.”

The -て form here is used to connect to the next action:

終わらせて、家で休みます。 – “(I will) finish (it) and then rest at home.”

Why 終わらせて and not 終わって or 終えて? Are they all possible?

All three exist, but they’re not interchangeable in all contexts.

終わって (from 終わる, intransitive)
- 仕事が終わって、家で休みます。
  “When work is over, I’ll rest at home.”
  Here, the work itself ends (it’s the subject).
終えて (from 終える, transitive)
- 仕事を終えて、家で休みます。
  “After finishing my work, I’ll rest at home.”
  This focuses on the fact that you have completed the work.
終わらせて (from 終わらせる, transitive / causative)
- 仕事を早めに終わらせて、家で休みます。
  “I’ll get my work finished a bit early and rest at home.”
  This often implies a more active / deliberate decision to wrap it up or push to completion (e.g., leaving the office earlier than usual by getting things done).

In your sentence, 早めに終わらせて nicely matches the nuance of taking the initiative to finish earlier than usual.
終えて would also be grammatically fine and natural, with slightly more neutral nuance:

仕事を早めに終えて、家で休みます。 – also acceptable.

What is the function of the -て form in 終わらせて、家で休みます?

The -て form here is used to link two actions:

仕事を早めに終わらせて – finish work early
家で休みます – rest at home

Common nuances of the -て connection:

Sequence (do A, then B):
- “I’ll finish work early and then rest at home.”
Cause/Reason (sometimes):
- In many contexts, AてB can imply “because A, (I) B,” but here it’s mainly sequential.

It’s understood that the same subject (“I”) is doing both actions, which is why the subject is omitted in both clauses.

Why is it 家で休みます and not 家に休みます?

で marks the place where an action is performed.

家で休みます。 – “I will rest at home.”

に with places usually marks:

destination/goal of movement:
- 家に帰ります。 – “I will return home.”
location of existence:
- 家にいます。 – “I’m at home.”

But for actions done at a place (eat, study, work, rest, play, etc.), you use で:

学校で勉強します。 – “I study at school.”
会社で働きます。 – “I work at the company.”
公園で遊びます。 – “I play in the park.”
家で休みます。 – “I rest at home.”

What exactly does 休みます mean here? Is it “rest,” “take a day off,” or something else?

休みます (from 休む) is context-dependent. Common meanings:

to rest / to relax
- ちょっと休みます。 – “I’ll rest a bit.”
to be absent / take a day off (from work/school, etc.)
- 明日、会社を休みます。 – “I’ll take the day off work tomorrow.”

In your sentence:

家で休みます。 most naturally means “I’ll rest/relax at home.”
The “take a day off” meaning usually appears with an object, like 会社を休む, 学校を休む.

So this sounds like: finish work early, then go home and relax.

Who is the subject of this sentence? Why is “I” not mentioned?

In Japanese, the subject (I, you, he, she, etc.) is often omitted when it’s clear from context.

Here, context would typically be:

You are talking about your own plans for today, so the understood subject is “I”:
- “Today, I’ll finish work early and rest at home.”

If you needed to make it explicit, you could say:

今日は私は仕事を早めに終わらせて、家で休みます。
But this double は is usually unnecessary and a bit heavy unless you are contrasting yourself with someone else.

Normal, natural Japanese leaves the subject out when it’s obvious.

Can I change the word order, like 今日は早めに仕事を終わらせて、家で休みます? Is that still correct?

Yes, Japanese word order is relatively flexible as long as particles stay attached to the right words.

All of these are grammatical and natural, with slightly different focus:

今日は仕事を早めに終わらせて、家で休みます。
(neutral; the most straightforward)
今日は早めに仕事を終わらせて、家で休みます。
Emphasis a bit more on doing it early today.
仕事を今日は早めに終わらせて、家で休みます。
Sounds like you’re especially contrasting today’s work finishing time with other days.

The key is:

仕事 must keep を,
早め must keep に,
家 must keep で.

As long as those particles stay attached correctly, you have some freedom with order.

What is the politeness/tone of this sentence? Is it appropriate in a workplace context?

The sentence ends with 休みます, which is the polite ます-form, so the overall tone is polite but casual-normal, not extra formal or rough.

You could say this to a coworker or a superior in many everyday situations, especially in spoken conversation:
- 今日は仕事を早めに終わらせて、家で休みます。

If you wanted it a bit more formal or business-like, you might see something like:

今日は仕事を早めに切り上げて、家で休もうと思います。
今日は仕事を早めに終わらせて、家で休ませていただきます。 (quite polite/humble)

But the original sentence is perfectly acceptable, natural polite Japanese.