In/at the end of a sentence/file

Question

I just realized that I don't really understand such a basic thing as whether to use "in" or "at" in contexts like:

Don't forget to put a period in/at the end of a sentence.

Don't forget to put an empty line in/at the end of a file.

"In" or "at"? And why?

Does this answer your question? Should I say she in the park or she is at the park — DialFrost, Jul 21 '22 at 00:22
That proposed duplicate question is about the differences between "at" and "in" when referring to arbitrary physical locations. This question is about the correct choice of preposition before the expression "the end of". I didn't find anything in the answers to the other question that would help with this one. — gotube, Jul 21 '22 at 15:26

gotube · Accepted Answer · 2022-07-21T02:59:00.907

"...at the end of..." is always correct. The expression "in the end" is valid, but it never has "of" after it.

The preposition "at" has the meaning of the location of a specific point, where "in" is less specific. The end of something is a specific place, so it only makes sense to use "at". The expression "in the end" doesn't refer to a specific place, but to the outcome, or end result, generally.

This Google Ngram shows there's a few "in the end of", but they're either non-idiomatic writing styles (like the Bible) or they're about media with titles that start, "The End of...", such as:

In "The End of Policing",..."

Where "The End of Policing" is a book title.

In/at the end of a sentence/file

1 Answers1