‘at the end of the day‘ can be used literally, meaning the time of day, but is also an informal phrase that means: when everything is taken into consideration.
*It contains the most common 5 part N-gram in English: ‘at the end of the’
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English Grammar Profile C1 Point 8 in the category of FOCUS is defined as:
fixed expressions in the front position for focus.
Within the EGP examples, + we have added the COCA frequency.
. At the end of the day , 1092
. All in all , 1058
. All things considered , 130
. When you think about it , 124
. When it comes down to it , 69
PEARSON’S GSE 66 B2
adverbial phrases to make comments.
The GSE additions in COCA show that these are extremely rare which would suggest the level would be more like C2:
Practically speaking … (93)
At the end of the day… (in EGP)
Taking the long view… (11) = consider what is likely to happen in the future over a long period
EXPERT EXAMPLES:
Practically speaking, these laws drive HIV underground.
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VegNewsPELIC student examples:
All in all, I have a very busy plan for the weekend.
Chinese Female
All things considered, I will choose the Sony VAIO notebook.
Korean Female level 3 writing class
All things considered, living in a small town and living in a big city
both are [are both] great choice[s] depend[ing] on [your] personal situation and value[s].
Taiwanese Female level 5 writing class
When you think about it, it makes sense.
Spanish Female level 5 writing class
At the end of the day, I was no longer feeling bad.
Turkish Female level 4 grammar class.
*However, this last example seemed to be used as a time phrase. It may also be the most frequent in the COCA corpus for the same dual uses.