End or Ending?

End 指一段时间，活动或故事的结束。

I always like to leave my desk clear at the end of the day.
The end of the play was much more exciting than I’d expected.

Ending 指一个活动或故事的结尾。

People want love stories with happy endings.
I didn’t find the ending of the film very convincing.
The playwright wrote two different endings to the play, so that the audience could chose which they would prefer to see.

与 end 不同的是，ending 往往有“内容”的含义，对比：

I don’t like the end of the book.

我不喜欢这本书的结尾——可以指内容，也可以指方式/表现形式。

I don’t like the ending of the book.

我不喜欢这本书结尾的内容/情节。

Our conversation came to an abrupt end when George burst into the room.

对话在 George 闯入时戛然而止。

The party came to rather an abrupt ending when Tom’s parents came home.

派对在 Tom 父母回家后唐突结束。但人们不是像“快闪”一样突然散去，而是派对结束时气氛尴尬，人们在失望不满中离开。

 

To find more: At the end, by the end, and in the end

References: Cambridge.org/end, Cambridge.org/ending