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I have the following three sentences:

  1. I am reading it by the end of this week.
  2. I am reading it at the end of this week.
  3. I am reading it in the end of this week.

Which one is more grammatically correct?

I think it’s the second one, but I am not really sure; I ruled out the third one.

2 Answers 2

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The third is ungrammatical and should be discarded.

The first two are just about grammatical but mean different things.

By the end of the week means you will have completed it by then.

At the end of the week means you intend to start reading it then.

The problem with the grammaticality is the use of the present progressive, when it seems you need the future. Ideally you need to say:

I will read it by/at the end of this week.

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At the end of the week means you gonna read it at the weekend whereas by the end of the week means you're currently reading and will possibly read it till the end ( also consider that BY is generally used with Past and Future Perfect tenses). I haven't got any idea about in the end of the week. If you ask the general difference, in the end equals to finally, and at the end denotes the meaning known to everybody.

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  • i thought about I will be reading it by the end of the week as you said for the future tense, but its in the TOEFL preperation and they ask for the one that is more grammatically correct.
    – Xi Sigma
    Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 14:42
  • Then AT THE END is the most preferred one. Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 14:43
  • Also consider that Present progressive here is much likely used to denote a planned action. Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 14:44
  • You are always welcome :) Good luck Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 14:45
  • @TurkanAlisoy I think you were confusing my comment on your answer on this question here with "Karamusha"'s comment! I thought your answer was ok. Perhaps you should undelete it? My own comment was to Karamusha, not to you! (When someone comments under your post, you will get a 'ping' to let you know. However, you can see who the comment was to by looking at the top left of the comment, where it says "@X" the X is who the comment is for. :-) Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 15:14

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