In Spanish we use this verbal structure to express "To have just done [something]".
Have a look and listen to the following examples in different tenses:
Acabo de romper la mesa.
I have just broken the table.
Nosotros acabábamos de comer cuando Sara llegó.
We had just eaten when Sara arrived.
Usted acaba de comprar el viaje de sus sueños.
You have just bought your dream trip.
Los jubilados acababan de llegar a Benidorm cuando empezó la tormenta.
The retirees had just arrived to Benidorm when the storm started.
Notice how the preposition de always follows acabar. In Spanish, unlike in English, we do not use a participle (-ed form) but rather an infinitive after de.
Acabo de llegar.
Acabo de llegado.
I have just arrived.
Generally with this construction we use either El Presente or El Pretérito Imperfecto as you can see in the examples above.
- For "have just done something" use El Presente
- For "had just done something" use El Pretérito Imperfecto
See also La perífrasis verbal.
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
Nosotros acabábamos de comer cuando Sara llegó.
We had just eaten when Sara arrived.
Los jubilados acababan de llegar a Benidorm cuando empezó la tormenta.
The retirees had just arrived to Benidorm when the storm started.
Usted acaba de comprar el viaje de sus sueños.
You have just bought your dream trip.
Acabo de romper la mesa.
I have just broken the table.
Q&A
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
24/01/19
Hola Jessica
Yes, to express "to have just done something" we use the whole structure "acabar de +infinitive", so you need to conjugate acabar in the present and then add "de" plus infinitive.
For example:
"Acabo de hablar con Juan" (I've just spoken with Juan)
"Ella acaba de llegar a casa" (She's just arrived home)
I hope this helps,
Gracias y un saludo
Inma
Celia
Kwiziq community member
7 April 2019
2 replies
Conjucations for acaba de
What are the rules for conjucating "acabe de"? Is it:
yo: acabo detu: acababas deel/ella/ud: acaba denosotros: acababamos devosotros: ?ellas/ellos/uds: acababan de
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
8 April 2019
8/04/19
Hola Celia
The conjugation of acabar de is that of an regular -ar verb in any tense. We haven't mentioned anything related to conjugation in the lesson as it is an idiomatic lesson. The examples you see in the lesson are mixed, some in the present (acabo de) and some in the imperfect (acababa de). These are the tenses normally used in this construction. So if you want to say "someone has just done something" you conjugate acabar in the present:
If you want to say "someone had just done something" then you conjugate acabar in the imperfect:
We will add a note to the lesson to make it a bit more clear.
Gracias y saludos
Inma
Celia
Kwiziq community member
8 April 2019
8/04/19
¡Gracias Irma!