What does 済む mean?
済む is a Japanese verb meaning “to finish, to end” in English. It can also be translated as “to be enough, to get off lightly” depending on context. It is written as 済む in kanji, すむ in hiragana, and sumu in romaji. This word is part of JLPT N4 vocabulary.
Example sentences
１０時ちょっと前に仕事が済んだ。
We got through the work just before ten.
しかし彼に大きなけがはなく、軽い打撲傷で済んだ。
However he wasn't seriously hurt and got away with light bruising.
Conjugation of 済む
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Plain | 済むすむ | 済まないすまない |
| Plain past | 済んだすんだ | 済まなかったすまなかった |
| Polite | 済みますすみます | 済みませんすみません |
| Polite past | 済みましたすみました | 済みませんでしたすみませんでした |
Other forms
Te-form済んですんで
Potential済めるすめる
Passive済まれるすまれる
Volitional済もうすもう
Causative済ませるすませる
Conditional済めばすめば
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Transitive partner
済む (it happens by itself)·済ます (someone does it)
済む describes something happening by itself. 済ます describes someone doing it to something. Japanese keeps these apart where English often uses one verb for both.