shigoto ga owattara, toshokan ni yoru tsumori desu.

to be

Breakdown of shigoto ga owattara, toshokan ni yoru tsumori desu.

• に: destination particle
• が: subject particle
• 仕事しごと: work

Questions & Answers about shigoto ga owattara, toshokan ni yoru tsumori desu.

Why is が used after 仕事 instead of は?

In 仕事が終わったら, が marks 仕事 as the thing that finishes.

• 仕事が終わる = work ends / work is finished
• Here, 仕事 is the subject of 終わる

Using は is also possible in some contexts, but it would add a stronger topic or contrast feeling. In this sentence, が is the most natural neutral choice.

So:

• 仕事が終わったら = when work is finished / when I finish work

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Why is 終わった in the past form if the sentence is talking about the future?

This is a very common question. In Japanese, the た-form + ら pattern is used to mean when or if something happens.

So:

• 終わった = finished
• 終わったら = when it finishes / when it’s finished

Even though 終わった looks past, 終わったら does not necessarily mean the whole sentence is in the past. It marks one action as happening before the next one.

So the sequence is:

1. work finishes
2. then I plan to stop by the library

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What does 〜たら mean here?