Using 'Fin'

As a cousin of English words such as "final" and "finish," the Spanish fin (pronounced approximately like "feen" would be), the masculine noun fin is usually used to refer to the end or completion of something. It is also used in some common phrases.

Some examples of fin with its usual meaning:

• Muchos creen que el fin del mundo será el año 2019. Many think the year 2019 will be the end of the world.
• Dice que Twitter es el comienzo del fin de la interacción humana. He says Twitter is the beginning of the end for human interaction.
• El fenómeno La Niña llega a su fin, según expertos meteorológicos. The La Niña phenomenon is coming to an end, according to weather experts.
• Todo tiene su fin. Everything comes to an end. (Literally, everything has its end.)
• La agencia estatal de inversiones debería abrir nuevamente a fines de julio. The state investment agency should reopen at the end of July.
• Salieron y caminaron hasta el fin de la calle. They left and walked toward the end of the street.
• La presidenta puso fin al suspenso. The president put an end to the suspense.
• "A buen fin no hay mal principio" es una comedia de William Shakespeare. "All's Well That Ends Well" is a William Shakespeare comedy. (The Spanish title could be translated literally as "There is no bad beginning to a good end.")
• Es el fin del sueño americano. It's the end of the American dream.

El fin can also refer to the purpose or goal of something (as does "end" in some contexts):

• El fin de la educación es la virtud moral. The goal of education is moral virtue.
• Los fines no justifican los medios. The ends don't justify the means.

Phrases Using Fin

One of the most common phrases using fin is fin de semana, a calque of the English "weekend": Quiero que los fines de semana sean más largos. I wish weekends were longer.

Here are some other phrases using fin; translations other than those given may be possible:

• a fin de que (so that, in order that): Quiero abrir una escuela a fin de que todos participen. I want to open a school so that all can participate. (Note that the verb following this phrase is in the subjunctive mood.
• al fin y al cabo (when all is said and done, at the end of the day): Al fin y al cabo, somos arquitectos de nuestro propio destino. When all is said and done, we are the architects of our own destiny.
• en fin (phrase with a nebulous meaning used to refer to and sometimes downplay what has been expressed earlier): En fin, vamos a ver como realmente funciona. Anyway, let's see if it really works.
• fin de fiesta (grand finale): Ésta es la canción perfecta para un fin de fiesta. This is the perfect song for a grand finale.
• por fin, al fin (finally, at last): El iPhone 4 blanco por fin (al fin) ha llegado y es una belleza. The white iPhone 4 has finally arrived, and it's a beauty.

Sources: As is the case with most lessons on this site, sample sentences frequently are adapted from online sources written by native speakers. Sources consulted for this lesson include: Legox, blog de Gadhafy, EWTN, Menéame, Clarín, BNAméricas, MuyInteresante.es, La Coctelera, Cibercorresponsales, Javier Fernández.