Meaning & use
end-of-the-year
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Happening at or connected with the last part of a year.
Grammar: Comes before a noun and is not used after a verb: an end-of-the-year trip, not the trip was end-of-the-year.
Patterns
- end-of-the-year party
- end-of-the-year report
- end-of-the-year sale
Our team has an end-of-the-year dinner every December.
She is busy writing her end-of-the-year report for the manager.
The store holds a big end-of-the-year sale in late December.
Common combinations
- end-of-the-year party
- We danced all night at the end-of-the-year party.
- end-of-the-year report
- Please send me the end-of-the-year report by Friday.
- end-of-the-year sale
- I bought my laptop during the end-of-the-year sale.
- end-of-the-year break
- The students are excited about the end-of-the-year break.
Synonyms and how they differ
Commonly confused: end-of-the-year or year-end?
end-of-the-year vs year-end
Both go before nouns, but year-end is the usual choice in business and finance, while end-of-the-year sounds more general or school-related.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase is an adjective, so it goes before the noun: an end-of-the-year party. Option A uses it after a linking verb, option C puts it after the noun, and option D uses it as a noun, where English normally says 'the end of the year'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “end-of-the-year”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.