Breakdown of Eu acabei de enviar o relatório.
eu
I
o relatório
the report
enviar
to send
acabar de
to have just (done)
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Questions & Answers about Eu acabei de enviar o relatório.
What does the construction acabar de + infinitive express?
It expresses the immediate past, like English “to have just done” something. So Eu acabei de enviar o relatório = “I just sent the report / I’ve just sent the report.”
Why is there a de after acabei? Can I say “acabei enviar”?
The de is mandatory in this idiom: acabar de + infinitive. You cannot say acabei enviar. Without de, acabar means simply “to finish/end,” as in:
- Acabei o relatório. = “I finished the report.” (not “I just sent it”)
- To say “finish doing,” you also use de: Terminei de enviar = “I finished sending.”
Can I say Eu acabo de enviar o relatório instead? Is there a difference?
Yes, you can. Both are correct:
- Eu acabei de enviar (preterite) is very common in Brazil and sounds the most natural for “just now.”
- Eu acabo de enviar (present) is also correct and widely understood; in Brazil it can sound a bit more formal/bookish or regional, while it’s very common in European Portuguese. Both mean the action happened moments ago.
How is Acabei de enviar o relatório different from Enviei o relatório?
- Acabei de enviar o relatório emphasizes recency (“just now”).
- Enviei o relatório simply states a completed action in the past, without highlighting how recent it was. If you want to add recency without the idiom, you can say Enviei o relatório agora há pouco (“I sent the report a little while ago”).
What about Já enviei o relatório?
- Já enviei o relatório = “I’ve already sent the report.” It focuses on the fact it’s done, not on how recent it was. It could have been minutes or days ago.
- Acabei de enviar o relatório = “I just sent the report (moments ago).”
Why not use the Portuguese present perfect, Tenho enviado o relatório, like English “I have sent”?
In Brazilian Portuguese, tenho enviado means “I have been sending (repeatedly/ongoing up to now)”, not a single completed action. For a single recent event, use Enviei… or Acabei de enviar…
Can I drop the subject pronoun Eu?
Yes. Acabei de enviar o relatório is perfectly natural. Include Eu if you want emphasis or contrast (e.g., “I (not someone else) just sent it”): Eu acabei de enviar…
Can I use mandar instead of enviar?
Yes. Mandar is very common in everyday Brazilian Portuguese for sending files/messages:
- Acabei de mandar o relatório. Note that mandar also means “to order/command,” so make sure context makes “send” clear (it usually does).
How do I mention the recipient (you/him/her)?
Common, natural options in Brazil:
- Acabei de te enviar o relatório.
- Acabei de enviar o relatório para você. (or informal pra você)
- More formal/region-specific: Acabei de lhe enviar o relatório. With infinitives, the object pronoun can go before or after the infinitive:
- Acabei de te enviar… (very common in Brazil)
- Acabei de enviar-te… (more formal/written)
How do I replace o relatório with a pronoun?
Standard written Portuguese attaches the clitic to the infinitive:
- Acabei de enviá-lo. (“I just sent it,” masculine singular) Rules:
- With verbs ending in -r, -s, -z, drop that final consonant and add -lo/-la/-los/-las; add an accent if needed to keep the stress (e.g., enviar → enviá-lo, fazer → fazê-lo, dizer → dizê-lo). Brazilian everyday speech often uses a tonic pronoun instead:
- Acabei de enviar ele/ela. (very common but less formal)
Why the definite article o in o relatório? Could I say um relatório or meu relatório?
- o relatório = a specific report both speakers have in mind (definite).
- um relatório = an unspecified/any report (indefinite).
- Possessives: In Brazil, you typically say meu relatório (no article). In Portugal, o meu relatório is common. Both are understood in Brazil; the version without the article is more typical there.
How do I negate this properly?
- “I haven’t sent the report yet”: Ainda não enviei o relatório.
- “I didn’t finish sending the report”: Não terminei de enviar o relatório.
- Avoid using the idiom in the negative to mean “I didn’t just send it.” Não acabei de enviar o relatório is usually read as “I didn’t finish sending the report,” not “I didn’t just send it.” To deny recency, say something like Eu não enviei o relatório agora há pouco.
How do I say this with other subjects?
- I: Eu acabei de enviar… / Eu acabo de enviar…
- You (sing.): Você acabou de enviar…
- He/She: Ele/Ela acabou de enviar…
- We: Nós acabamos de enviar…; with a gente (informal “we”): A gente acabou de enviar… (verb stays in 3rd person singular)
- You (pl.): Vocês acabaram de enviar…
- They: Eles/Elas acabaram de enviar…
How should I pronounce Eu acabei de enviar o relatório?
Quick tips for Brazilian Portuguese:
- Eu ≈ “eh-oo” blended to “ew.”
- acabei stress on the last syllable: a-ca-BEI.
- de before a vowel often sounds like “jee.” So de enviar ≈ “jee enviar.”
- enviar stress on the last syllable: en-vi-AR.
- relatório stress on tó: rela-TÓ-rio; initial r sounds like a breathy “h” in much of Brazil; final -o often sounds like “u” (relaTÓrriu).
Are there other natural ways to say “just now” without using acabar de?
Yes:
- Enviei o relatório agora há pouco.
- Enviei o relatório agora mesmo.
- Mandei o relatório agorinha. (informal/regional) All of these convey recent completion.
Can acabar be confusing? I’ve seen acabar por and acabar + gerund.
Yes—be careful:
- acabar de + infinitive = “to have just done.”
- acabar por + infinitive = “to end up (doing).” Example: Acabei por enviar o relatório. (“I ended up sending the report.”)
- acabar + gerund (spoken BrPt) can also mean “to end up doing”: Acabei enviando o relatório. Not the same as “just sent.”
Any spelling/grammar gotchas in this sentence family?
- Enviei is spelled with an extra i: e-n-v-i-e-i.
- Acabei ends with -ei, not “-ey.”
- Relatório has an accent on ó.
- With attached pronouns after infinitives, mind the accent and hyphen: enviá-lo, fazê-lo, dizê-lo.