Home/Vocabulary exercises/Finish or end? 1

FINISH OR END? 1 (ESL)

level: Intermediate (B1/B2)
Finish and end can both mean "to stop" or "to come to a conclusion" but are used differently. This exercise focuses on the key distinctions between them.


READY TO PRACTICE? LET’S GO!

For each of the sentences, fill in the blank with the most appropriate answer.

1. I ________ high school when I was 18.
  finished
  ended
  BOTH ARE CORRECT

2. The post office is located at the ________ of this street.
  end
  finish
  BOTH ARE CORRECT

3. Have you ________ eating?
  ended
  BOTH ARE CORRECT
  finished

4. They ________ their discussion.
  finished
  BOTH ARE CORRECT
  ended

5. The marathon runner didn't make it to the ________ line.
  end
  BOTH ARE CORRECT
  finish

6. Let me ________ what I'm saying!
  finish
  end
  BOTH ARE CORRECT

7. The baseball game ________ in a tie.
  BOTH ARE CORRECT
  finished
  ended

8. How did the movie ________?
  finish
  BOTH ARE CORRECT
  end

9. You didn't ________ your homework.
  end
  BOTH ARE CORRECT
  finish

10. The song has ________.
  BOTH ARE CORRECT
  finished
  ended


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Conversation Questions 1. At what age do students typically finish school in your country?
2. Do you prefer to finish one task completely before starting another?
3. Think of a project you finished recently. How did it feel?
4. Is there something you have started but not yet finished? What is stopping you?
5. What time does a typical workday or school day end in your country?
More English grammar exercises Finish or end? 1
Tell/speak/say/talk 1
Tell/speak/say/talk 2
Life/live/living 1
As or like? 1
Grammar review END — something stops or reaches its final point; sense of reaching a boundary. Verb and noun.
The road ends here. / The meeting ended at noon. / the end of the film.

FINISH — a process or task is completed; all stages gone through. Mainly a verb.
Have you finished your homework? / She finished reading the book.

Key distinction: finish school = complete your studies; the school day ends = it reaches its stopping point. Finish focuses on the person completing something; end focuses on the event itself concluding.
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