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End or finish?

We use the verbs end and finish in similar ways, to mean ‘come to a stop’:

  • I think that his contract ends this month.
  • What time does the film finish?

We use finish to say that we complete something that we are doing. It emphasises that the process stops within a specific period of time. End would not normally be used in these examples:

  • He finished his meal in just three minutes.
  • If we had the right tools, we could finish the job by Friday this week.
  • Her brother finished last in the race.

We use end to say that stopping something is significant, and has a clear conclusion or shape. Finish wouldn’t normally be used in these examples:

  • The course of the river ended in a delightful harbour with small sailing boats everywhere.
  • Many historians agree that the medieval period in Europe ended in the mid-sixteenth century.
  • Verbs that end in -ed are usually in the past tense.

Finish can be followed by the -ing form, but not by a to-infinitive:

  • They’ve finished playing those computer games.
  • Not: They’ve finished to play …
  • I haven’t finished drying my hair yet.
  • Not: I haven’t finished to dry …

End cannot be followed by either a *to-*infinitive or the -ing form:

  • Call me when you’ve finished writing the report.
  • Not: Call me when you’ve ended writing …