Meaning
The phrase make ends meet means to earn just enough money to cover your basic living expenses (such as food, rent, bills, etc.). It often implies financial struggle or difficulty in managing with limited resources.
Grammar and Usage
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Part of speech: Phrasal verb (idiomatic expression).
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Usage: Usually used with "can/cannot" or "able/unable."
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Structure:
- Subject + make ends meet
- Subject + cannot make ends meet
Example:
- She works two jobs to make ends meet.
Common Phrases
- struggle to make ends meet
- barely make ends meet
- hard to make ends meet
- manage to make ends meet
Collocations
- Verbs: struggle, manage, try, work hard, fail + to make ends meet
- Adverbs: barely, hardly, just + make ends meet
- Nouns/contexts: salary, expenses, income, bills + to make ends meet
Examples
- After losing his job, he found it hard to make ends meet.
- Many families are struggling to make ends meet due to rising costs.
- She takes night shifts to make ends meet.
- Even with two incomes, they can barely make ends meet.
- He cut down on entertainment expenses to make ends meet.
- Students often take part-time jobs to make ends meet.
- Inflation has made it harder for people to make ends meet.
- They moved to a smaller apartment to make ends meet.
Synonyms or Related
- get by
- scrape by
- survive financially
- keep the wolf from the door
Antonym
- live in comfort
- live luxuriously
- have money to spare