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Questions & Answers about sueobi kkeutnasseoyo.
What is the role of 수업이 in this sentence?
수업 means “class” or “lesson.” The -이 is the subject marker, indicating that 수업 is the subject of the verb 끝났어요.
What does 끝났어요 mean, and what is its basic dictionary form?
The dictionary (infinitive) form is 끝나다, meaning “to end” or “to finish” (intransitive). 끝났어요 is its polite past-tense form, so it means “has ended” or “finished.”
How do you get from 끝나다 to 끝났어요?
- Remove -다 from 끝나다, leaving the stem 끝나-.
- Add the past tense marker -었- → 끝나 + 었 = 끝났-.
- Attach the polite ending -어요 → 끝났 + 어요 = 끝났어요.
Why isn’t it 끝나요?
끝나요 is the polite present tense (“ends” or “is ending”). Since the speaker wants to say that the class has already ended, they use the past tense 끝났어요 instead of the present 끝나요.
How would I turn 수업이 끝났어요 into a question?
Simply raise your intonation or add the question particle -까?:
- Rising intonation: 수업이 끝났어요? (“Is the class over?”)
- Formal question ending: 수업이 끝났어요까? (more formal/literary)
- You can also ask casually: 수업이 끝났어?
What’s the difference between using 이 and 은 here—수업이 끝났어요 vs. 수업은 끝났어요?
- 수업이 끝났어요 simply states that the class has ended (subject focus).
- 수업은 끝났어요 (with the topic marker 은) implies contrast or a topic shift, e.g., “As for the class, it’s over (but something else is not).”
Can this sentence be made more casual or more formal?
Yes.
- Casual: 수업이 끝났어.
- Standard polite: 수업이 끝났어요.
- Formal polite: 수업이 끝났습니다.
How would I say “Our class is over” instead of just “class”?
Add a possessive or pronoun:
- 우리 수업이 끝났어요. (“Our class is over.”)
- 지금 수업이 끝났어요. (“The class just ended.”) for more context.