Acabar (To Finish) — Full Conjugation

Acabar means to finish, to end, or to run out. It is one of the most frequently used verbs in European Portuguese — not only in its literal sense ("acabei o trabalho" = I finished the work) but also in a cluster of idiomatic prepositional constructions that Portuguese speakers use dozens of times per day: acabar de (to have just done something), acabar por (to end up doing), and acabar com (to put an end to, to break up with).

The good news is that acabar is a regular first-conjugation (-ar) verb in all of its conjugated forms — no stem changes, no irregular participles. The only thing to watch out for is a spelling change: before the vowel e, the letter c must be written qu to preserve the hard /k/ sound. This means forms like acabe (present subjunctive), acabei (first-person preterite) etc. do not need a spelling change because the c stays before a non-front vowel (-ei) or is already written as such. In fact, acabar does not actually trigger the c→qu change in its own conjugation because the c here is followed by a, and never by e or i in any form. The spelling shift only becomes relevant for verbs like ficar → fique or tocar → toque. We note this up front so you can see what acabar is not doing, because learners often assume any -car verb must mutate.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Use this tense for current actions, habits, and general truths. Acabo o trabalho às seis = I finish work at six.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Use this tense for past habits, background descriptions, and actions in progress in the past. Ele acabava tudo à última hora = He used to finish everything at the last minute.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Use this tense for completed past actions. Acabei o livro ontem = I finished the book yesterday.

A crucial EP-versus-BP difference: European Portuguese writes the first-person plural of -ar preterites with a graphical acute — acabámos (we finished, yesterday) — whereas Brazilian Portuguese writes acabamos (no accent), which is identical to the present. In EP, the accent is not optional — it distinguishes "we finish" (acabamos) from "we finished" (acabámos).

Pluperfect indicative, simple — pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples

The simple pluperfect is a synthetic one-word form used mainly in literary and formal writing. In speech, Portuguese uses the compound pluperfect below.

Notice that the third-person plural acabaram is identical to the preterite; context will tell you which is meant.

Pluperfect indicative, compound — pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto

The compound pluperfect is the everyday way to say had finished. Formed with the imperfect of ter plus the past participle acabado.

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

This tense does not match English present perfect. It describes an action repeated or ongoing up to now. Tenho acabado o trabalho cedo = I have been finishing work early (lately).

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Used for future actions, more common in writing than in speech (where ir + infinitive prevails).

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Describes an action that will have been completed by some future moment.

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Expresses hypothetical actions or polite statements.

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Describes hypothetical past actions: would have finished.

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Used in subordinate clauses after verbs of wish, doubt, emotion, or command. Espero que acabes cedo = I hope you finish early.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Used for hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situations. Se eu acabasse antes das seis... = if I finished before six...

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

A living tense in Portuguese (unlike in Spanish, where it is archaic). Used in clauses about future possibilities after se, quando, enquanto. Quando acabares o trabalho, liga-me = When you finish the work, call me.

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Used when a completed past action falls in a subjunctive context. Duvido que já tenhas acabado tudo = I doubt you have already finished everything.

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Used for contrary-to-fact past situations. Se tivesse acabado a tempo... = if I had finished in time...

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Used for hypothetical future-completed actions. Quando tiveres acabado, avisa-me = When you have finished, let me know.

Imperative — imperativo

Affirmative:

Negative (uses present subjunctive):

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

The three essential prepositional constructions

More than its literal meaning "to finish," acabar earns its place in the top 50 verbs of Portuguese through three prepositional idioms. You must know these.

acabar de + infinitive — "to have just (done)"

This is the EP equivalent of English to have just. It does not mean "to finish doing." In the present it means the action happened moments ago; in the imperfect it means the action had just happened at some past reference point.

acabar por + infinitive — "to end up (doing)"

Expresses a final outcome after some process or hesitation.

acabar com — "to put an end to / to break up with / to finish off"

A versatile construction. With a person, it usually means "to break up with"; with an abstract noun, "to put an end to"; with a consumable object, "to finish off, to use up."

Other common uses and idioms

• acabar bem / mal — to end well / badly
• acabar em — to end in (a place, a result)
• e não se acaba mais — and it never ends (colloquial emphasis)
• é só o que me faltava — "that's all I needed" (related register)
• acabado de + past participle — just (done): pão acabado de cozer = bread just baked

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Acabar is a fully regular -ar verb. Memorize the endings once for any -ar verb and you have acabar for free.
• The EP first-person plural preterite keeps the acute: acabámos ≠ acabamos.
• Acabar de + infinitive means "to have just done" — not "to finish doing." This is the trap.
• Acabar por + infinitive = "to end up doing"; acabar com = "to put an end to / break up with / finish off."
• The negative tu imperative shifts to the subjunctive: não acabes, not não acaba.
• Compound and continuous constructions (tenho acabado, estou a acabar, acabado de +participle) are everyday speech — work them into your passive vocabulary.