English Idioms

Make Ends Meet

Meaning:

• Make sufficient money
• Get by financially
• Make a living

Frequency of Use: Medium

1. I can’t make ends meet working at this job.
2. My father couldn’t make ends meet last month, so he had to find another job.
3. Why was it so difficult to make ends meet back in college?
4. If I didn’t make ends meet every month, I would be in trouble.

1. What are some of the best ways to make ends meet in these situations?

• a newly married person right out of college
• a college student who receives no support from family
• the new owner of a small pizza restaurant that has barely made it through the pandemic

You are the owner of a small movie theater, and since the beginning of the pandemic, people have chosen to stay home and watch movies through other streaming services. As a result, your business is on the verge of going under. Your wife and four children are worried about the future, especially since you just purchased a house, and the kids just started private schools. What are you going to do to make ends meet over the next year to survive the current difficult times?

Possible Answer: 

“First, I am going to invite local live bands to play at the movie theater to provide a different type of entertainment. This should help us make ends meet.”

Sometimes, learners know the meaning of an idiom, but they don’t know how to use it correctly in conversation or writing. Thus, this activity checks your grammatical accuracy with the idiom so you become more confident in using it.