Learn ‘acabar de’ in Spanish
How do you say “I just ate” in Spanish?
Great question! Let’s explore that one today.
Post 158/365
Es jueves, 31 de agosto de 2017
Hola,
Welcome to Spanish Blog 365 and thank you so much for stopping by today!
I’ll think you’ll really like today’s lesson. It’s pretty easy to use and it will serve you well.
If you are trying to say “I just ate” or “We just saw that movie” or “He’s just arrived”, you may have trouble coming up with the word ‘just‘ in Spanish.
However, one little verb is all you need to solve this sentence structure: Acabar
What a great verb! Here how it works.
There is a formula. It’s…Acabar plus de plus an infinitive.
Notice the English – I’ve just eaten or I just ate
In English we use a past tense, but in Spanish we’ll use acabar in the present tense to indicate something that we have just done.
Acabar – is a regular verb
yo acabo
tú acabas
él
ella acaba
Ud.
nosotros acabamos
vosotros acabáis
ellos
ellas acaban
Uds.
Now add the preposition ‘de‘ and an ‘infinitive‘ (an verb that’s not been conjugated)
Yo acabo de salir – I just left / I have just left
Tú acabas de llegar – You have just arrived
él
Ella acaba de hacer galletas – S/he has just made cookies. or You have just made cookies.
Ud.
Nosotros acabamos de pedir unas cervezas – We’ve just ordered some beers.
Vosotros acabáis de volver – You guys just returned (got back)
Ellos
Ellas acaban de aprender el verbo acabar – You guys or they just learned the verb acabar.
Uds.
Here it is in Action! Translation below
1.
¿Tienes hambre?
Ahorita no. Acabo de comer con mis amigos.
2.
¿Qué hacen Uds?
Acabamos de llamar a Luisa. Vamos al cine.
3.
¿Conoces el libro ‘La Vida es Sueño’?
Sí, acabo de leerlo.
4.
Acabo de recibir tu e-mail. Gracias.
5.
Ellos acaban de comprar un carro nuevo.
Ahora necesitan comprar seguro / aseguranza.
Complete the sentences – Mix and Match
Adriana acaba de… trabajar 8 horas
Miguel acaba de… ver una película
Yo acabo de … perder las llaves
La tienda acaba de … conseguir un pasaporte
Acabamos de… cerrar
¿Acabas de … escribir una carta
Ejemplo: La tienda acaba de…cerrar.
Translation:
Here it is in Action! Translation from above
1.
¿Tienes hambre? – Are you hungry?
Ahorita no. Acabo de comer con mis amigos.
No right now. I just ate with friends.
2.
¿Qué hacen Uds? – What are you all doing?
Acabamos de llamar a Luisa. Vamos al cine.
We’ve just called Luisa. We’re going to the movies.
3.
¿Conoces el libro ‘La Vida es Sueño’? – Do you know the book ‘Life is a Dream’?
Sí, acabo de leerlo. – Yes, I just read it.
4.
Acabo de recibir tu e-mail. Gracias.
I just got your e-mail. Thanks
5.
Ellos acaban de comprar un carro nuevo. – They’ve just bought a new car.
Ahora necesitan comprar seguro / aseguranza.
Now they need to buy insurance
Complete the sentences – Mix and Match
Adriana acaba de… worked 8 hours
Miguel acaba de… saw a movie
Yo acabo de … lost the keys
La tienda acaba de … got a passport
Acabamos de… closed
¿Acabas de … written a letter
Ejemplo: La tienda acaba de…cerrar.
Example: The store/shop has just closed.
Action steps:
Play around with this verb. Find lists of infinitives and see what will work.
It’s not too hard to learn this verb.
a. you conjugate it in the present tense and it’s a regular verb
b. you get to use lots of infinitives (verbs that are not conjugated)
Here are some links back to verb lists if you want.
Leave me a comment and let me know how you’re coming along with your Spanish. I’d love to hear from you!
Gracias y hasta mañana,
Carolina
