> A : 会議は何時ごろ終わりますか？  
>  B : もうしばらく____はずですが。
>
> 1.終わり 2.終わる 3.終わった 4.終わらない

I've been pondering why the answer has to be 4.  
Can anyone explain it to me please?
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question
word-choice
Which form of 終わる should I use here?
The correct answer should be #4 終わらない because しばらく means "for a while" and not
" _in_ a while / _after_ a while" or "a while _ago_ ".

> もうしばらく終わらないはずですが。  
>  _lit._ I think it won't finish for a little while more."  
>  → "I think it will continue for a little while more."

To use #1, #2 and #3, you'd need to change the sentence this way:

> 1 → もうしばらく **で** 終わり **の** はずですが。(adding の since 終わり is a noun form)  
>  "I think it will finish in a little while more. / soon."  
>  2 → もう しばらく **で** 終わる / しばらく **すれば** 終わる はずですが。  
>  "I think it will finish in a little while more. / soon."  
>  3 → もうしばらく **前に** 終わったはずですが。  
>  "I think it already finished a while ago." (The もう here means "already".)
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answer