ended

Meanings

1. 1verbintransitive

   Past form of end: came to a finish, or stopped.

   Grammar: No object: the film ended.

   Patterns

   • something ended
   • end in/with something

   The film ended just before midnight.

   Our meeting ended with a short vote.

   The long drought ended last spring.

2. 2verbtransitive

   Past form of end: brought something to a stop.

   Grammar: Takes an object: she ended the call.

   Patterns

   • end something

   She ended the call and put her phone away.

   The two countries ended the war.

   He ended his speech with a joke.

3. 3verbphrasal verbinformal

   Past form of end up: finished in a certain place or state.

   Grammar: Used with up: we ended up at home.

   Patterns

   • end up somewhere
   • end up doing something

   We ended up eating pizza at midnight.

   He ended up as the manager.

   They ended up in a different city.

Word forms

Common combinations

ended in tears

The game ended in tears for the losing team.

ended abruptly

The conversation ended abruptly.

ended with

The evening ended with fireworks.

ended up

They ended up lost in the forest.

ended the relationship

She ended the relationship last year.

Synonyms and how they differ

finished

Finished stresses completing something, while ended simply says it stopped.

stopped

Stopped suggests an interruption, while ended often means a natural conclusion.

concluded

Concluded is more formal and often used for meetings or speeches.

terminated

Terminated is formal and often means a deliberate, official end.

Opposites

Word family

end verb

to come or bring to a finish

ending noun

the final part of something

endless adjective

without an end

endlessly adverb

continuing without stopping

Commonly confused: ended or ended vs. endured? ended or ended vs. ending?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “ended”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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