kono shigoto wa futsuka de owaru hazu desu.

This work should be finished in two days.

Breakdown of kono shigoto wa futsuka de owaru hazu desu.

• は: topic particle
• です: to be
• 仕事しごと: work
• この: this

Questions & Answers about kono shigoto wa futsuka de owaru hazu desu.

Why is it この仕事 and not これ仕事?

この is a determiner, so it must come before a noun: この仕事 = this job / this work.

これ is a standalone pronoun: this.

So:

• この仕事 = this job
• これ = this

You cannot normally say これ仕事.

What is the role of は after 仕事?

は marks 仕事 as the topic of the sentence.

So この仕事は means something like:

• as for this job
• speaking of this work

It does not directly mark the subject in the same way English does. It sets up what the sentence is about, and then the rest of the sentence says something about it.

Here, the sentence is making a statement about this job: it is expected to finish in two days.

How do you read 二日 here?

Here, 二日 is read ふつか.

This is an irregular reading, so it is something you simply need to memorize.

In this sentence, 二日 means two days.

A learner might know 二 = に and 日 = にち, but together this word is not read ににち here.

Does 二日 mean two days or ?