卒業をする

You usually put the place you are leaving before the particle を. For example, 大学を卒業をする means you graduated from university. Notice the を here is acting like a bridge. You are 'doing' the act of graduation upon the school. You can also use it for things that aren't schools. If you finally stop playing a video game you were addicted to, you can say you 'graduated' from it. It sounds a bit more dramatic and intentional than just saying 'I quit.' It implies you learned everything you could and moved on. Just don't try to 'graduate' from your laundry; that's just called being messy.

You will see this all over Instagram in March. People post photos of their 卒業証書 (diploma) with the caption ついに卒業をしました！ (I finally graduated!). It is also a huge term in the world of Japanese idols. When a member leaves a group like AKB48, they don't 'quit.' They 'graduate.' This implies they are moving on to a solo career or a new life stage. On TikTok, you might see 'vlogs' of someone's last day. They might say 今日で高校の制服を卒業をします (Today I graduate from my high school uniform). It is a very photogenic phrase! If you use it for a habit, like チョコを卒業をする, your friends might laugh and ask how long that will actually last.

Use this when you have officially completed a course of study. It works for elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. It is perfect for a formal speech at a ceremony. You can also use it when a long-term project finally ends. If you have been a member of a club for years and finally leave, this works perfectly. In a job interview on Zoom, you might mention what year you 卒業をしました. It shows a clear timeline of your achievements. It is a very safe, positive, and forward-looking phrase. Use it when you want to sound like you have matured.

Do not use this if you quit school halfway through. That is a different word called 中退 (chuutai). If you say 卒業をする but didn't get the diploma, people will be very confused! Also, don't use it for leaving a job. For work, use 退職する (taishoku suru). If you 'graduate' from a company, it sounds like you think the company was just a primary school for you. That might offend your boss! Also, don't use it for short-term things. You don't 'graduate' from a 30-minute workout. That's just finishing. Save the big guns for the big life changes.

One common error is using the particle から (from) instead of を. While から makes sense in English ('graduate FROM'), Japanese prefers を. Another mistake is using it for simple hobbies you got bored of. If you just stopped knitting, say you stopped. Don't say you graduated unless you became a master knitter first! Also, remember that 卒業をする is the full verb. Sometimes people forget the を and just say 卒業する. Both are fine, but 卒業をする sounds a bit more deliberate in speech. Just don't accidentally say you graduated from your boyfriend. That's a very cold way to break up!

If you want to sound more academic, you can use 修了する (shuuryou suru). This is usually for specific courses or graduate school programs. For simply finishing something, 終える (oeru) is a great, versatile verb. If you want to say you finished your 'studies' in a broad sense, 学業を終える works well. There is also 卒園する (sotsuen suru), which is specifically for kids graduating from kindergarten. It is adorable but don't use it for yourself unless you are a very tall five-year-old. 卒業 is the king of these expressions because everyone knows the feeling it carries.

The most common variation is just dropping the を to make 卒業する. You will also see 卒業式 (sotsugyou-shiki), which is the ceremony itself. People often talk about 大卒 (daisotsu), which is short for 'university graduate.' On social media, you might see #卒業 as a hashtag. There is also 自動卒業 (jidou sotsugyou), a funny term for when you naturally stop doing something because you grew out of it. Like how you probably 'graduated' from believing in the tooth fairy. Hopefully. If not, we need to have a different conversation over coffee.

Is 卒業をする formal? Yes, it is neutral to formal. You can use it with anyone. Can I use it for quitting smoking? Yes! It sounds very determined and positive. Is March the only time to use it? No, but in Japan, 99% of graduations happen in March. Do I need the を? Not always. 卒業する is more common in fast speech, but 卒業をする adds a nice emphasis. What if I graduate early? You can say 早期卒業をする. It makes you sound very smart and probably very tired.