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Questions & Answers about Мы уже закончили урок.
What does уже mean in Мы уже закончили урок?
It means already and indicates that the action has been completed by now. In Russian, уже usually appears near the verb and emphasizes that something expected has happened at or before this point in time.
How is the past tense of закончить formed for мы?
Take the infinitive закончить, remove -ть to get the stem закончи-, then add the past‑tense plural ending -ли, resulting in закончили. In Russian past tense, endings only reflect gender and number, so -ли marks plural regardless of person.
Why is урок in the accusative case?
The verb закончить is transitive—it requires a direct object. Урок (lesson) is that direct object, so it appears in the accusative case. For masculine inanimate nouns like урок, the nominative and accusative forms look the same.
Why use the perfective verb закончить instead of the imperfective заканчивать?
Perfective aspect (закончить) expresses a one‑time, completed action: “to finish (once).” Imperfective aspect (заканчивать) would focus on the process or a repeated action: “to be finishing” or “to finish regularly.” Saying Мы уже закончили урок clearly states that the lesson is fully finished.
Can we omit мы and just say Уже закончили урок?
Yes. Russian often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows person and number. Уже закончили урок is natural, especially in spoken or informal contexts—it still means “(We) have already finished the lesson.”
Is the word order Мы уже закончили урок fixed?
No. Russian has flexible word order to shift emphasis without changing the core meaning. For example:
- Урок мы уже закончили (emphasizes урок).
- Мы урок уже закончили (slightly different nuance).
All versions translate as “We’ve already finished the lesson.”
Could I say Мы уже заканчиваем урок instead?
You can, but it changes the aspect and meaning. Мы уже заканчиваем урок uses the imperfective заканчиваем, implying “we are in the process of finishing the lesson now,” not that it’s fully done.
How do you pronounce закончили and where is the stress?
It’s pronounced [zɐˈkonʲt͡ɕɪlʲɪ], with the stress on the second syllable -кон-. The first о is reduced to a sound like a (a common feature of unstressed o in Russian).