end and finish: verbs

Both used

These verbs have similar meanings, and are often both possible.

• What time does the concert end/finish?
• Term ends/finishes on June 23.

Completing an activity

When we talk about completing something that we are doing, we usually prefer finish.

• She’s always starting something new, but she never finishes anything.
• You’ll never finish that hamburger – it’s too big for you.
• ‘Are you still reading the paper?’ ‘No, I’ve finished.’

Changes

End is more common when there is an important change.

• I decided it was time to end our affair.
• It’s time to end the uncertainty – the Prime Minister must speak out.
• The Second World War ended in 1945.

We also prefer end to talk about a special way of bringing something to a close or ‘shaping’ the end of something.

• How do you end a letter to somebody you don’t know?
• The ceremony ended with a speech from the President.

End is often used to talk about physical shapes.

• The road ended in a building site. (not The road finished …)
• Nouns that end in -s have plurals in -es.

-ing forms

Finish, but not end, can be followed by an -ing form (see here).

• I finished teaching at 3.00. (not I ended teaching …)