How to pronounce "at the end of" in English — Connected Speech Guide (IPA /ətðiˈɛndəv/)

How native English speakers pronounce "at the end of" (IPA /ətðiˈɛndəv/) — connected speech rule, example sentences, and audio for GA and RP. Free. end-of link; of→/əv/

at the end of pronunciation (IPA /ətðiˈɛndəv/) — Linking

What happens in this phrase

end-of link; of→/əv/

Example sentences

at the end of the day, we rest.
It's at the end of the street.
Wait at the end of the line.
at the end of the month, we pay.

Common mistakes by native language

Japanese speakers

Mistake: Pronouncing each of the four words with equal stress and clear separation, close to "atto za endo obu".

Why: Japanese loanword pronunciations of English function words tend to be full-vowel and clearly bounded, so learners carry that same word-by-word clarity into naturally reduced English phrases.

Fix: Compress the whole phrase into a single flowing group where "the" and "of" are barely audible: [ətðiˈɛndəv], with "end" carrying the main stress.

Korean speakers

Mistake: Giving "of" its full, dictionary vowel [ʌv] instead of reducing it, making the phrase sound choppy: "at the end ov".

Why: Korean function words like particles keep a stable, unreduced form, so English prepositions like "of" — which shrink dramatically in casual speech — don't feel like they should change shape.

Fix: Reduce "of" to the weak form [əv] and link it directly onto "end": [ətðiˈɛndəv].

Chinese speakers

Mistake: Pausing slightly between "the" and "end", treating the definite article as its own separate beat.

Why: Mandarin has no equivalent article system, so "the" doesn't have an intuitive unstressed, closely-linked role the way it does in English rhythm.

Fix: Let "the" reduce to a very quick [ði] before the vowel of "end" and flow directly into it with no gap: [ətðiˈɛndəv].

Similar phrase patterns

at the end of the day — the same core phrase extends with an additional reduced noun phrase attached: "At the end of the day" builds directly on "at the end of", using identical weak forms for "at", "the", and "of" — mastering the shorter phrase makes the longer idiom much easier to produce fluently.
most of all — "of" reduces to its weak form [əv] inside a connected phrase: The reduction of "of" seen in "most of all" is identical to the reduction in "at the end of", confirming "of" almost never keeps its full vowel unless it is specifically emphasized.
a lot of people — a function-word-heavy phrase compresses into a single rhythmic unit: Just as "a lot of" shrinks its small words around the stressed content word "lot", "at the end of" shrinks "at", "the", and "of" around the stressed word "end", showing the same rhythm-based compression principle at work.

Practice sentences

We'll review the results at the end of the meeting. (planning a work agenda)
There's a small twist at the end of the story. (discussing a book or movie)
Payment is due at the end of each month. (explaining billing terms)
She left the office right at the end of the shift. (describing a schedule)
The team celebrated at the end of the project. (describing a workplace milestone)

Notes

"At the end of" is one of the most frequent prepositional phrases in English, used constantly to mark time, sequence, and location, and its four words compress heavily in fast, natural speech. "At" and "the" both reduce to their weakest possible forms, losing almost all stress, while "end" — the only content word in the phrase — carries the primary stress and stays fully pronounced. "Of" then reduces from its dictionary form [ʌv] down to the unstressed [əv] and links directly onto whatever follows, whether that's a noun phrase or another function word. Put together, the phrase becomes [ətðiˈɛndəv], a tight rhythmic unit where three of the four words are barely more than a breath, and only "end" stands out clearly. Learners who pronounce "at", "the", and "of" with their full dictionary vowels will still be understood, but the phrase will sound noticeably slower and more effortful than natural speech. Because "at the end of" is the foundation for the longer idiom "at the end of the day", practicing this shorter phrase first builds the rhythmic habit needed to produce the extended version smoothly and naturally.