Essential French Expression
 |
|
| Share / Tweet / Pin Me! | |
| Meaning | at / in / to / until the end | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[ah lah feh(n)] |
| IPA | [a la fɛ̃] | |
Usage notes: The French expression à la fin has several similar English equivalents, thanks to the versatile preposition à (at, in, to) at the beginning.
Par exemple…
| Je l’ai vu à la fin de novembre. | I saw him at the end of November. | |
| À la fin, j’ai réussi à le terminer. | In the end, I managed to finish it. | |
| Je suis resté jusqu’à la fin. | I stayed to / until the end. |
Related expressions
- jusqu’à la fin des temps / siècles – until the end of time
- vers la fin de (janvier …) – in late (January …), towards the end of (January …)
Synonyms
Le bout refers to "the end," both literally and figuratively:
- au bout de la rue – at the end of the street
- au bout du monde – to the ends of the Earth
- au bout du tunnel – at the end of the tunnel
- en bout de course – at the end of the day, ultimately
- être à bout – to be the end of one’s endurance
- être à bout de ressources / patience – to be at the end of one’s resources / patience
- jusqu’au bout – to the end
- voir le bout du tunnel – to see the light at the end of the tunnel
More synonymous expressions
- à la sortie de l’enfance / du printemps – at the end of childhood / spring
- à l’issue de – at the end of (= outcome)
- enfin – in the end, finally
- en fin de compte – in the end (= outcome)
- en fin de semaine – towards the end of the week
- en queue de phrase – at the end of the sentence
- fin (janvier, février …) – at the end of (January, February …)
- fin courant – at the end of this month
- finalement – in the end (= outcome)
- finir par (décider) – to end up (deciding)
Related lessons
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!
This free website is created with love and a great deal of work. If you love it, please consider making a 
The French lessons and comprehension exercises on this site are ranked according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which describes six levels of language proficiency.
When a word ending in a normally silent consonant is followed by a vowel or h muet, that consonant might be transferred onto the next word. This is called a liaison and it’s one of the aspects of French pronunciation that can make it difficult to determine where one word ends and the next begins.
Aller is one of the most common and important French verbs. It generally means “to go,” is key to the near future construction, and is also found in many expressions. This issue of Lawless French à fond takes an in-depth look at going everywhere with