Finally, at last, lastly and in the end are confusing words for English learners. These words and phrases are similar. But the meaning and use is in fact slightly different. Let's look at each one in more detail.

finally - Use 1
"finally" presents the last element of a series or list.
Example sentence:
Mark: What do we need from the supermarket?
Jane: We need coffee, milk, sugar and finally, a packet of biscuits.


finally - Use 2:

We use "finally" to express that one has been waiting a long time for something.
The bus finally arrived at midnight.

“finally” goes in the middle position of a sentence:
If the sentence has a main verb, then we put "finally" before the main verb.
If the sentence has an auxiliary or modal verb, then we put "finally" after the auxiliary / modal verb and before the main verb.
If the sentence has the verb "be" as a main verb (a linking verb), then we put "finally" after the verb “be”.


at last

“at last” also expresses that one has been waiting a long time for something.
“at last” strongly expresses impatience or inconvenience at the long wait.

Example: We have at last sold our car.
Position in a sentence:
We can put "at last" at the beginning or end or in the middle position as defined above.


lastly

"lastly" describes something that comes at the end of a series or list.
(This is the same as use 1 of "finally" as described above.)
To start with, I drank a cup of coffee. Then I sat down. Lastly, I read the newspaper.


in the end

"in the end" describes a conclusion after a long process, a lot of problems or after a lot of discussion and analysis.
We couldn't decide between Paris, Rome or Madrid for our holidays. In the end, we chose Paris.

There are lots of examples and a detailed explanation in the video.

IELTS complete course and writing corrections: [ Ссылка ]
Online English lessons & speaking practice: [ Ссылка ]


More English video lessons:

Present perfect verb tense: [ Ссылка ]
IELTS online course review: [ Ссылка ]
Modal verbs of probability: [ Ссылка ]
English listening quiz (telephone numbers): [ Ссылка ]


Andrew,
Crown Academy of English
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