Learn Hardcore Japanese: siken ga owattara, tomodati to kafe de yukkuri simasu. - After the exam ends, I will relax at a cafe with a friend.

は tends to mark a topic (“as for the exam…”), and then say something about it.
Here, we just want a straightforward “when the exam is over” time clause, so 試験が終わったら is the natural choice.

What exactly does 終わったら mean, and how does the 〜たら form work?

終わったら comes from:

終わる – to end, to finish
終わった – past/complete form: “ended / has ended”
終わったら – “when / after it has ended,” or “if it has ended”

The pattern [verb in た-form] + ら (〜たら) has two common uses:

Time (“when / after”)
- 試験が終わったら、…
  → When the exam is over, … / After the exam ends, …
Condition (“if”)
- 雨がやんだら、出かけます。
  → If / when the rain stops, I’ll go out.

In this sentence, it’s clearly time-based: After the exam is finished….

How is 終わった formed from 終わる? What is that small っ?

終わった (owatta) is the past tense of 終わる (owaru).

Dictionary form: 終わる
ます-stem: 終わり (used in 終わります)
Plain past: 終わった

The small っ (促音 / sokuon) in 終わった marks a double consonant:

た → った (a common pattern for some verb groups)
You pronounce it like a brief pause before ta: o-wa-(pause)-ta.

So the small っ itself doesn’t “mean” anything; it just shows how the consonant is doubled in this past form.

What does 友達と mean here? Does と mean “and” or “with”?

In 友達と, the particle と means “with”.

友達とカフェでゆっくりします。
→ I’ll relax at a café *with my friend(s).*

The particle と has two common uses:

“and” (linking nouns):
- 犬と猫 – dogs and cats
“with” (companion):
- 友達と行きます。 – I’ll go with my friend.

In this sentence, it’s clearly the companion meaning: you are relaxing together with your friend(s).

Does 友達 mean “friend” or “friends”? How do I know if it’s singular or plural?

友達 (ともだち) itself is number-neutral:

It can mean “a friend” or “friends”, depending on context.

In this sentence:

友達とカフェでゆっくりします。
could be:
- I’ll relax at a café with a friend, or
- I’ll relax at a café with friends.

If you really need to be explicit, you can say:

一人の友達と – with one friend
友達一人と – with one friend
何人かの友達と – with some friends
友達たちと – with friends (grammatically possible, but 友達たち is not very common; people usually rely on context or numbers instead).

What does the particle で after カフェ do?

で is the location-of-action particle here.

カフェでゆっくりします。
→ I’ll relax *at a café.*

Basic idea:

Xで [action] = do the action at / in / on X.

Compare:

図書館で勉強します。 – I study at the library.
家で映画を見ます。 – I watch a movie at home.

So カフェで marks the café as the place where you will relax.

Why isn’t it カフェにゆっくりします? What’s the difference between で and に for places?

に and で both can follow place words, but they express different ideas:

[Place]に行きます。 – go to [place] (destination)
[Place]で[verb]. – do [verb] at/in [place] (location of action)

In this sentence, the important point is where the relaxing happens, not where you’re going:

カフェでゆっくりします。 – I’ll relax at the café.

If you wanted to talk about going to the café, you’d use に:

カフェに行って、ゆっくりします。
– I’ll go to a café and relax.

What does ゆっくりします mean exactly? I thought ゆっくり meant “slowly.”

ゆっくり does literally mean “slowly / at a slow pace”, but in daily life it often carries the nuance of:

“taking it easy, not rushing, relaxing.”

So:

ゆっくりする can mean:
- to go slowly / take one’s time
- to relax, to unwind, to chill

In this sentence:

友達とカフェでゆっくりします。
→ I’ll take it easy / relax at a café with my friend(s).

Similar expressions:

のんびりする – to laze around, to take it real easy
休む – to rest, take a break (more about stopping work / effort)

Why is the verb します at the end? Where is the subject “I”?

Japanese normally puts the main verb at the end of the sentence.

Structure here:

試験が終わったら、 – when the exam is over,
友達とカフェで – with my friend(s), at a café
ゆっくりします。 – (I) will relax.

The subject “I” is omitted because it’s clear from context. This is very normal in Japanese:

(私は) 試験が終わったら、友達とカフェでゆっくりします。
→ The full version with 私は (“as for me / I”) is usually unnecessary.

Japanese often drops pronouns like “I/you/he/she” when they are obvious.

Is します present or future tense? Is this a plan, a habit, or something else?

Japanese doesn’t have a separate future tense. The non-past form (します) can mean:

present: “I do / I usually do”
future: “I will do / I’m going to do”

Here, with 試験が終わったら as a future event, ゆっくりします is naturally read as “I will relax.”

Other examples:

明日映画を見ます。 – I will watch a movie tomorrow.
毎日日本語を勉強します。 – I study Japanese every day. (habit)

Could I say 試験が終わったとき or 試験が終わったあとで instead of 試験が終わったら? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can, but the nuances are slightly different:

試験が終わったら、友達とカフェでゆっくりします。
- “When the exam is over, I’ll relax at a café with my friend(s).”
- Natural, slightly “if/when that time comes” feeling.
試験が終わったとき、友達とカフェでゆっくりします。
- Literally: “At the time when the exam is over, I relax at a café with my friend(s).”
- Often used for “when (at the moment) something happens.”
- In this context, it’s understandable, but 〜たら sounds more natural for a post-exam plan.
試験が終わったあとで、友達とカフェでゆっくりします。
- “After the exam is over, I’ll relax at a café with my friend(s).”
- Focuses more clearly on afterwards, later in time.

All three are grammatically okay; 〜たら is very common and natural for “when that is done, I will…” future plans.

Can I change the word order, like カフェで友達とゆっくりします? Is that still correct?

Yes, that’s fine. Japanese word order is fairly flexible as long as:

The particles (が, を, に, で, と, etc.) stay attached to the correct words.
The main verb stays at the end.

All of these are natural:

友達とカフェでゆっくりします。
カフェで友達とゆっくりします。

The nuance is almost the same. Very slight emphasis shifts:

Starting with 友達と…: gentle focus on “with my friend(s)”.
Starting with カフェで…: gentle focus on “at a café”.

But in everyday conversation, they’re basically interchangeable.