A vistoria terminou cedo.

Because vistoria is a feminine noun in Portuguese, so it takes the feminine singular definite article a.

• a vistoria = the inspection
• uma vistoria = an inspection

A useful thing to remember is that many nouns ending in -a are feminine, though there are exceptions.

Vistoria usually means an inspection, check, or survey, especially a formal or official one.

It can be used for things like:

• a property inspection
• a vehicle inspection
• a technical or safety check
• an official assessment of conditions

So it often sounds a bit more formal than a casual check in English.

Terminou is the pretérito perfeito in Portuguese, which is the simple past tense often used for a completed action.

Here:

• terminar = to finish / to end
• terminou = finished / ended

So A vistoria terminou cedo means the inspection finished early as a completed event.

Because terminou refers to a single completed event in the past.

• terminou = it finished / it ended
• terminava = it used to finish / it was finishing / it would finish, depending on context

In this sentence, the idea is that the inspection reached its end at a particular moment, so terminou is the natural choice.

Yes, absolutely. Acabou cedo is also natural and means almost the same thing.

A rough comparison:

• terminou cedo = finished early
• acabou cedo = ended early / finished early

In many situations they are interchangeable.
Sometimes terminar can sound slightly more neutral or formal, while acabar is very common in everyday speech.

Cedo means early.

In this sentence, it tells us when the inspection ended:

• terminou cedo = finished early

It is an adverb here, modifying the verb terminou.

That is the most natural position in this sentence. In Portuguese, adverbs like cedo often come after the verb:

• terminou cedo
• chegou cedo
• saiu cedo

You may sometimes see adverbs in other positions for emphasis, but after the verb is the normal, straightforward choice here.

Normally, no. In Portuguese, countable singular nouns often need an article when they are specific.

So:

• A vistoria terminou cedo = The inspection finished early

Without the article, Vistoria terminou cedo sounds unnatural in standard Portuguese unless it appears in a very special context, such as headlines, notes, or highly reduced style.

Portuguese verb forms often do not show the subject explicitly by themselves. Terminou can mean:

• he finished
• she finished
• it finished
• you finished (formal você)

The subject is identified by context. Here, the subject is a vistoria, which is a thing, so in English we translate it as it finished or more naturally the inspection finished.

In European Portuguese, vistoria is pronounced approximately like veesh-too-REE-ah.

A few helpful points:

• the stress falls on ri: vis-to-RI-a
• the s before t sounds like sh in Portugal
• unstressed vowels are often reduced in European Portuguese, so the word may sound more compressed than a learner expects

The sentence A vistoria terminou cedo in European Portuguese sounds roughly like:

• uh veesh-too-REE-ah tehr-mee-NOH SEH-doo

That is only an approximation, but it may help with listening.

Vistoria is used and understood in Portugal, especially in formal, technical, legal, or administrative contexts.

Depending on the situation, you might also hear:

• inspeção = inspection
• verificação = verification / checking
• revisão = review / servicing, depending on context

But vistoria is a perfectly good word, especially when referring to an official inspection of a place, vehicle, or condition.

Yes, that is one possible interpretation. Cedo means early, but exactly what kind of early depends on context.

It might mean:

• earlier than expected
• earlier than usual
• early in the day

Without more context, the sentence simply says that the inspection ended early.