Breakdown of Церемония заканчивается, и гости уходят.
и
and
гость
guest
уходить
to leave (on foot)
заканчиваться
to end (imperfective)
Questions & Answers about Церемония заканчивается, и гости уходят.
Why do we use the reflexive verb заканчивается instead of just заканчивает?
Because the ceremony is ending itself. Заканчиваться is an intransitive verb, meaning it does not take a direct object. If you used заканчивает, it would mean the ceremony is actively finishing something else (which would need to be in the Accusative case).
Why is Церемония in the Nominative case?
With Russian reflexive phase verbs like заканчиваться (to end), the thing that is ending is the grammatical subject of the sentence. Therefore, Церемония must be in the Nominative case, rather than being the Accusative object of someone else finishing it.
How does the verb уходят mean 'are leaving'?
Уходят is formed by adding the prefix у- (meaning departure or moving away) to a form of the verb of motion ходить (to go on foot). Together, уходить means to leave or to depart.
Could we use the perfective verb закончится here instead?
No, because perfective verbs cannot be used in the present tense. Церемония закончится would mean 'The ceremony will end.' Since the action is happening right now, we must use the imperfective present tense заканчивается.