Imagine I am playing a game with some people. Every players is done with doing his/her actions/turns. So the game is basically over, but as very last step e.g. the game-master has to declare the winner.
Do I say to him "Could you please finish the game?" or "Could you please end the game?"
The main part of the game is over, in which the players can act, but the game as a whole is not over before e.g. the game-master declares the winner.
Note: I am not interested in rephrasing the question, so please focus on which word is the correct one. If you know a better one, that's okay, too!
Edit: I am still interested in further answers! 🙂
Best Answer
"Finish" and "end" are one of those unfortunate pairs of words for which the dictionary isn't much help in differentiating the difference. The words are similar, and the dictionaries use one word to describe the other in an attempt to have as broad a definition as possible.
There is at least a clue, though, in the definition of "finish". Merriam-Webster captures the key distinction in the definition to bring to completion. That would be the applicable word in this case.
"End" can imply that. One definition is to come to an end, as in "The meeting will end at noon", which implies that noon is when all of the business is expected to be concluded. But the word's meaning is just to terminate or stop. In the dictionary example, "end at noon" doesn't really address whether the business will actually be completed, that's just the scheduled termination time. In your sentence, "end" would not necessarily include declaring a winner.