10 English Phrases for Talking about the End of Something

Well, summer is starting to draw to a close,

summer is starting to come to a close.

Those are two phrases we use to

talk about something that is ending.

I need to go back to work tomorrow.

In fact, this is the outfit I will be wearing.

I thought I would put it on for this video.

I'm wearing my teaching shoes.

I'm wearing a shirt with a collar

and the pants that I normally wear.

No longer can I wear shorts and jeans

and just hang out in a t shirt.

So in this English lesson, I'm going to

teach you a few phrases we use when

we're talking about something that is ending.

And like I said, the first two to come

to a close and to draw to a close.

These are phrases we use to describe

things that are no longer happening.

So summer is definitely coming to a close.

It's drawing to a close.

And tomorrow I'll need to start teaching.

So I noticed on the ground over

here there are a few leaves.

It seems like summer is starting

to wind down a little bit.

In English, when we say something is starting to

wind down, by the way, it's not quite fall

yet, but it's coming in a few weeks.

In English, when we say something is starting to

wind down or when something is winding down, it

means again that it is coming to an end.

Right now, the days are a little cooler.

The nights are definitely a lot cooler, much

cooler than it was back in July.

So definitely the summer is starting to wind down.

We'll still have a few hot days here and there.

We'll still have a few warm nights here and there.

But we can certainly start to

sense that summer is ending.

It's starting to wind down.

So last week was definitely the final stretch.

It was the final stretch of summer.

In English, when we use the phrase the final

stretch, we're talking about the last few days before

something ends or the last couple of weeks.

I did a lot of work for Jen on the farm

last week in the final stretch of summer because I will

have less time to help her over the next few weeks.

So in English, when you are in the

final stretch, it means you're in those last

few days or weeks before something ends.

So you might be wondering if I'm sad that

summer is ending and I have to say I'm

ready to close the door on summer.

I'm ready to start teaching.

In English, when you say you're going to close

the door on something, it means you're going to

stop doing it or that it is over.

I'm definitely ready to close the door on summer.

I do like teaching.

I do like farming in the summer.

But I don't mind going back to

work at this time of year.

It is starting to get a little bit colder.

There's less work for me to do on the farm as well.

So I'm definitely ready for it to end.

I'm ready to close the door on it.

Summer, however, was amazing.

I had a lot of fun this past

summer with my family, with my kids.

It was fun to go visit Brent in

Maine at the beginning of the summer.

But all good things must come to an end.

That's a saying we have in English that we

say at a time like this, when you do

something fun, at some point it does end.

So we say, all good things must come to an end.

So this past summer was good.

In fact, it was great.

But I do understand how life works.

You can't experience good times all the time.

Sometimes you have to work and earn money and

do things that are hard and maybe less enjoyable.

So the summer is ending.

But hey, all good things must come to an end.

So I'm talking like, I'm completely done working here on the

farm, but I do need to tie up some loose ends.

In English, when you say you need to

tie up some loose ends, it means there's

a few little jobs you have to finish.

This is a pile of compost.

There's a gigantic pile over there still.

And I have to move it all over here with the tractor.

I need to do a few things like that.

I need to tie up some loose ends on the farm, but

I do have time in the fall to still do that.

I can still do the little jobs.

I can still tie up the loose ends.

As many of you know, I spent a

lot of time this summer improving my driveway.

But I do still need to put

the finishing touches on this project.

It's 99% done.

It's pretty much done.

But there's a few little things I want

to do to make it look perfect.

In English

when you put the finishing touches on

something, it means just that to finish

those last few steps of a project.

So it looks amazing.

So it looks perfect.

So here I just need to spend about half an hour.

I need to put the finishing touches

on this project so it looks amazing.

I also still need to wrap up this project here.

All of this stone needs to go here.

We're putting a little driveway in here.

In English, when you say you need to wrap

something up, it means you've started something and you

just need to finish a few final details. This

stone needs to be moved here.

It needs to be smoothed out.

I need to wrap up this

project for sure before winter comes.

Hopefully I can do it in the next few weeks.

Hopefully on a Saturday afternoon my son and I

can get together and we can work on this

project and we can get it wrapped up.

So as summer ends, there's a few things that

I didn't get done and I'd like to teach

you this English phrase as I talk about them.

And the phrase is don't look back.

There are things that I just didn't get done

and I won't get done until next summer.

And in my mind I just think, hey, don't look back.

I got a lot of things done this summer.

I am very happy and proud of the work I

did and there just wasn't enough time to do everything.

So I just think don't look back.

That means I'm going to think about today,

I'm going to think about the future.

I'm not going to think about the past.

Don't look back.

And on that note, we'll end with

this phrase, all's well that ends well.

This is a phrase we say when

something is ending and it's ending well.

But you know, there were some things maybe you

didn't get done but you're still really happy.

All's well that ends well.

I definitely would say that about this summer.

I got lots of work done on my YouTube channel.

I got lots of work done here on the farm.

I am very happy with the things that

I accomplished and I'm not going to worry

about the things that I didn't get to.

So all's well that ends well.

Well, thank you so much

for watching this English lesson.

I hope the ten English phrases that I taught

you about how to talk about things that are

ending will help you in your next English conversation.

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