Alla fine abbiamo finito per cenare in terrazza, perché la cucina era troppo calda.

In the end we ended up having dinner on the terrace, because the kitchen was too hot.

Breakdown of Alla fine abbiamo finito per cenare in terrazza, perché la cucina era troppo calda.

• essere: to be
• in: in
• perché: because
• la cucina: the kitchen

Questions & Answers about Alla fine abbiamo finito per cenare in terrazza, perché la cucina era troppo calda.

Why does the sentence start with alla fine? Does it mean finally?

Alla fine usually means in the end, eventually, or after all.

In this sentence, it introduces the final outcome: Alla fine abbiamo finito per cenare in terrazza = In the end, we ended up having dinner on the terrace.

A useful comparison:

• alla fine = in the end / eventually
• finalmente = finally, often with a feeling of relief
• infine = finally / lastly, often used in more formal writing or when listing points

So here alla fine is the most natural choice for the final result of the situation.

What does abbiamo finito per cenare mean exactly?

This is a very common Italian structure:

finire per + infinitive

It means:

• to end up doing something
• to wind up doing something

So:

• abbiamo finito per cenare in terrazza = we ended up having dinner on the terrace

It does not literally mean we finished in order to have dinner.
Here finire per is an idiomatic expression meaning that, after some circumstances or changes, that is what happened in the end.

Other examples:

• Ha finito per accettare. = He ended up accepting.
• Ho finito per credergli. = I ended up believing him.