English
If you cannot do it by this Friday, then you have to finish it next weekend.
Structure
今週の金曜日までにできなけれ ば 、来週末に終わらせなくてはいけない。
After reading the english sentence I thought: 今週の金曜日までにできなければ、来週末に終わらないといけない。
My question is simply… why use the causative in this case for 終わる? Doesn’t it mean something like “make someone end something”? I learned about causative just yesterday so maybe that’s why I’m still not getting it.
終わる is intransitive, so maybe it means “to make (something) finished”.
I could be wrong as well, but your sentence would mean, “it has to end/finish next weekend”, not “you have to finish it next weekend” since 終わる is an intransitive verb.
I could be completely wrong but it sounds like to me “…then you are forced to finish it next weekend”. Such that “you have to do it” because “s.o. is making you do it” which could be implied as “forced” or maybe there is another smoother translation. The difference is subtle but it does clarify the context without being too literal. Where is this coming from?