diff --git a/compiler/parser/expr.v b/compiler/parser/expr.v
index 255639da..aa7f989f 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/expr.v
+++ b/compiler/parser/expr.v
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ import compiler.ast
 import compiler.context
 
 fn (mut p Parser) parse_expr() ast.Expr {
+	if p.should_abort() {
+		return ast.empty_expr
+	}
 	match p.tok.kind {
 		.kw_if {}
 		.kw_match {}
diff --git a/compiler/parser/mod.v b/compiler/parser/mod.v
index 7d37795a..a3396220 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/mod.v
+++ b/compiler/parser/mod.v
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ fn (mut p Parser) parse_file(filename string, is_root bool) {
 	}
 
 	p.advance(2)
-
 	for {
 		p.file.stmts << p.parse_stmt()
 		if p.should_abort() {
diff --git a/compiler/parser/stmt.v b/compiler/parser/stmt.v
index 375db2a5..ec42f9ea 100644
--- a/compiler/parser/stmt.v
+++ b/compiler/parser/stmt.v
@@ -8,18 +8,32 @@ import compiler.ast
 import compiler.context
 
 fn (mut p Parser) parse_block() []ast.Stmt {
+	if p.tok.kind == .lbrace && p.next_tok.kind == .rbrace {
+		// empty block: `{}`
+		p.advance(2)
+		return []
+	}
+
 	old_inside_local_scope := p.inside_local_scope
 	defer { p.inside_local_scope = old_inside_local_scope }
 	p.inside_local_scope = true
 
+	mut is_finished := false
 	mut stmts := []ast.Stmt{}
+	lbrace_pos := p.tok.pos
 	p.expect(.lbrace)
-	for !p.accept(.rbrace) {
+	for {
 		stmts << p.parse_stmt()
-		if p.should_abort() {
+		is_finished = p.accept(.rbrace)
+		if is_finished || p.should_abort() {
 			break
 		}
 	}
+	if !is_finished && !p.abort {
+		// we give an error because the block has not been finished (`}` was not found),
+		// but it has not been aborted (due to poor formation of expressions or statements)
+		context.error('unfinished block, expected `}` and found ${p.tok}', lbrace_pos)
+	}
 	return stmts
 }
 
diff --git a/compiler/tokenizer/token.v b/compiler/tokenizer/token.v
index f52a7447..5cde76d8 100644
--- a/compiler/tokenizer/token.v
+++ b/compiler/tokenizer/token.v
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ fn build_keys() map[string]Kind {
 fn build_token_str() []string {
 	mut s := []string{len: int(Kind._end_)}
 	s[Kind.unknown] = 'unknown'
-	s[Kind.eof] = 'eof'
+	s[Kind.eof] = 'end of file'
 	s[Kind.ident] = 'identifier'
 	s[Kind.number] = 'number'
 	s[Kind.string] = 'string'