graduate · end

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 卒 conveys finishing or graduating; its on-reading is そつ.
• Basic usage: 卒業 means completing a course of education, while 卒業式 names the ceremony marking it.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• を after the school
  • 高校を卒業する means to graduate from high school. This expression places を after the school.
• Graduation and its ceremony
  • 卒業式 is read そつぎょうしき; the final 式 explicitly marks a ceremony. Distinguish completing one's studies from the event that celebrates it.