verb phrase · neutral
make ends meet
/meɪk ɛndz miːt/make ENDS MEET
Band 7+speakingtask2
To earn just enough money to cover basic living expenses.
Examples
“Many young families struggle to make ends meet on a single income.”
“try to make ends meet”
“barely make ends meet”
Band 8 sentence
“With rising rents and stagnant wages, many urban families find it increasingly difficult to make ends meet without supplementary income.”
Collocations
- struggle to make ends meet
- barely make ends meet
Word family
make ends meet verb phrasemaking ends meet gerund
Common mistakes
make the ends meet→make ends meet
to make end meets→to make ends meet
Say it for a higher band
5get by→6keep afloat→7+make ends meet
Synonyms
keep afloat
get by
Easily confused
get by
“After paying the rent, they could barely get by until payday.”
Related words
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In Family & Relationships
Learn it with its set