Uses of Acabar in Spanish

Acabar generally means to finish, but it is also used in other ways to express slightly different kinds of finishing. There are multiple ways to use acabar in Spanish

Standalone Standalone

Acabar algo Acabar algo

To finish something To use up something To have just [verb] To end up [-ing verb]

Ella acab sus tareas escolares. Se acabaron los cupones. Acabo de ir al supermercado. Acab por viajar por avin.

She finished her schoolwork. She used up her coupons I have just gone to the supermarket. I ended up flying.

Used with de + Acabar de infinitive [infinitivo] Used with por + infinitive Used with con Acabar por [infinitivo]

Acabar con algo To end or destroy something Acabar con alguin

El honrn acab con el The home run brought juego de bisbol. an end to the baseball game.

Used with con

To destroy, ruin, El escndalo acab con The Whitewater scandal or be the end of el presidente. ruined the president. someone To end, come to Se acab el concierto. an end, have come close to To finish [-ing verb] Acabo comiendo la cena. The concert ended.

Used in Acabarse Reflexive form Used with a gerund Acabar [gerundio]

I am finishing eating

Explanation of Acabar de + infinitivo: It is an idiomatic expression that is the equivalent of a present perfect expression in English: "to have just [verb in past participle form]. The difference is that whereas English uses a past participle Spanish uses the infinitive of a verb. First of all, a note about the translation into English. When you've just done something American English usually uses the simple past, for example: "I just spoke to him" while UK English usually uses the present perfect: "I've just spoken to him". Both will be used in examples. We're talking about how to express something that you've done very recently. Here are some examples using the "acabar de + infinitvo" structure: I have just eaten an apple here eaten" is the past participle UK English or I just ate an apple US

English. To express this in Spanish we use the present tense of Acabar + de + an infinitive:

Examples:
Phrase US English UK English I have just taken my sister to her house You have just invited many girls Christina has just spoken with my mom We have just read the book You all have just written some letters Acabo de llevar a mi hermana a I just took my sister to her su casa house Acabas de invitar a muchas muchachas You just invited many girls

Cristina acaba de conversar con Christina just spoke with my mi mam mom Acabamos de leer el libro We just read the book Acabis de escribir unas cartas You all just wrote some letters Acaban de nadar en el mar. Acabo de hablar con Juan. Ella acaba de volver del trabajo. Acabamos de terminar de pintar la casa. Acabo de comer una manzana Acabo de despertarme. Acabas de ducharte. Acabamos de llegar. Acabo de mirar una pelcula. Acabas de estudiar espaol. Claudia acaba de llamar a su abuela. Acabamos de leer la revista. Acabis de jugar al tenis. Acaban de visitar a Mxico. I just spoke to Juan She just came back from work We just painted the house. I just ate an apple I just woke up You just took a shower We just arrived I just watched a movie You just studied Spanish. Claudia just called her grandmother We just read the magazine. You all just played tennis. They just visited Mexico

They just swam in the ocean. They have just swum in the ocean. I have just spoken to Juan. She has just come back from work We have just painted the house. I have just eaten an apple I have just woken up You have just taken a shower We have just arrived I have just watched a movie You have just studied Spanish Claudia has just called her grandmother We have just read the magazine You all have just played tennis They have just visited Mexico

Acabar de also has a Past Tense which corresponds to the Past Perfect tense in English. For example, in English we would say I had just eaten an apple - here "eaten" is the past participle just as before. However this time we have conjugated "to have" in the past tense which is "had". Here both UK English and US English use the same format. In Spanish we use the Imperfecto of Acabar and NOT the Preterito (after all we are defining usually which is NOT a one time use verb).

Examples of using Acabar in the Past: Acababa de comer una manzana Acababa de levantarme. Acababas de maquillarte. Acabbamos de llegar. Acababa de cantar una cancin. Acababas de ducharte. Mauro acababa de dormirse. I had just eaten an apple I had just gotten up You had just put on your make-up We had just arrived. I had just sung a song You had just taken a shower Mauro had just fallen asleep

Using Acabar Por + Infinitive

Another expression using Acabar is to append por and then the infinitive to get Acabar por + infinitivo. Use this construction to express having finally done something or it can mean to have ended up doing something

Acab por levantarme. Acabaste por maquillarte. Acabamos por llegar. Acab por ir por tren. Acabaste por decirle que no. Acabamos por cenar en el restaurante hind en vez del restaurante italiano. Acababa de hablar con Juan cuando lleg Mara. Ella acababa de volver del trabajo cuando se dio cuenta de que haba olvidado su bolso. Acabbamos de pintar la casa cuando empez a llover.

I finally got up. You finally put on your make-up. We finally arrived I ended up going by train. You ended up telling him "no." We ended up dining at the Indian restaurant instead of the Italian restaurant. I had just spoken to Juan when Mara arrived. She had just come back from work when she realized that she had forgotten her handbag. We had just painted the house when it began to rain.