Acabar de + Infinitive (Just Did)

The construction acabar de + infinitive expresses that an action has just happened. It's the natural equivalent of English "to have just done something" and is used constantly in everyday Latin American Spanish.

The verb acabar on its own means "to finish", but in this periphrastic structure it loses its literal meaning and simply marks immediate recency.

Formation

Conjugate acabar in the present tense for recent past, then add de + infinitive.

SubjectAcabar (present)
  • de + Infinitive
yoacaboacabo de llegar
túacabasacabas de llegar
él/ella/ustedacabaacaba de llegar
nosotrosacabamosacabamos de llegar
ustedes/ellosacabanacaban de llegar

Acabo de terminar la tarea.

I just finished the homework.

Acaba de llegar del aeropuerto.

He just arrived from the airport.

Present vs. Imperfect Use

The construction appears almost exclusively in two tenses:

  • Present: the action happened just moments ago, in the very recent past.
  • Imperfect: the action had just happened from a past point of view.

Acabábamos de cenar cuando sonó el timbre.

We had just finished dinner when the doorbell rang.

Acababa de salir de la casa cuando empezó a llover.

I had just left the house when it started to rain.

💡
Don't use acabar de in the preterite to mean "just did". In Latin America, acabé de comer literally means "I finished eating" (the original meaning of acabar), not "I just ate". Stick to present or imperfect for the "just did" meaning.

How Recent Is "Just"?

The time window is flexible but typically very short: from seconds ago up to a few hours or, stretching it, the same day. For anything older, use the present perfect or the preterite instead.

¿Ya comiste?—Sí, acabo de almorzar.

Did you eat yet?—Yes, I just had lunch.

Acaban de anunciar el resultado del partido.

They just announced the game result.

Pronouns with Acabar de

Object pronouns can go before acabar or attach to the infinitive. Both are correct and widely used.

Lo acabo de ver. / Acabo de verlo.

I just saw him/it.

Contrast with Recién

In Latin American Spanish, the adverb recién often accompanies or replaces acabar de to emphasize recentness:

Recién llegó. / Acaba de llegar.

He just got here.

💡
Recién is very common in Latin America, especially in countries like Argentina, Chile, and Peru, where it frequently replaces acabar de entirely in casual speech. Both structures carry the same meaning.

Negative Form

Negating acabar de is uncommon because "I did not just do X" is rarely what speakers want to express. When it appears, it's usually to correct someone.

No acabo de entenderte, ¿puedes repetir?

I don't quite understand you, can you repeat?

Compare this structure with ir a + infinitive for the near future, and see volver a + infinitive for "doing something again".

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