finish
part of speech
verb (finish, finishes, finished, finishing); noun (a finish, finishes)
meaning for a pupil
1) To finish means to come to the end of something, to complete it. tree →
2) The finish is the end of a race, where the finish line is. tree →
3) To finish something up or off is to use or eat the last of it. tree →
4) A finish is the look of a surface, like a shiny finish. tree →
sense in the lessons
maths: time to complete a job or race; work done until finished (time = amount ÷ rate); finishing times in a race; school: finish your work, finish the book; sport: cross the finish line; everyday life: finish your dinner
examples
- She finishes the book in 5 days. tree →
- How long will it take to finish the puzzle? tree →
- He finished the race in 20 minutes. tree →
- They need to finish 30 pages. tree →
- Finish your homework before you play. tree →
- She was first to cross the finish line. tree →
- Who finished the milk? tree →
- The table has a shiny finish. tree →
- Just let me finish carving this cross. tree →
note
Often asks for time: amount ÷ rate. Trap: none special. «Finish» is the end; «Finnish» is from Finland.
In the corpora
- A divorce is the official legal end of a marriage, and "the divorce came through" means the court has finished it.
- Think of a child finishing swimming lessons.
- The Hatter finishes his tale: the Queen screamed «He's murdering the time!
- Alice thinks: «I don't see how he can ever finish, if he doesn't begin.»
- Badger finishes his cheese, stands by the fire and asks Toad what his father, Badger's old friend, would have said.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «finish» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.