Terminamos el recado.

Terminamos comes from the verb terminar, meaning to finish or to end.

Here it is the 1st person plural form, so it goes with we.

For terminar, the present-tense pattern is:

• yo termino
• tú terminas
• él / ella / usted termina
• nosotros / nosotras terminamos
• vosotros / vosotras termináis
• ellos / ellas / ustedes terminan

So terminamos matches nosotros / nosotras = we.

It can also be the preterite form (we finished), because for many -ar verbs, the nosotros present and preterite forms are spelled the same. Context usually tells you which one is meant.

Because Spanish often drops subject pronouns when the verb already shows who the subject is.

In terminamos, the ending -amos already tells you the subject is we. So nosotros terminamos el recado is grammatical, but nosotros is usually unnecessary unless you want to:

• add emphasis
• create contrast
• avoid confusion

For example:

• Terminamos el recado. = normal, natural
• Nosotros terminamos el recado. = we finished it, not someone else

It can mean either one, depending on context.

That is because terminamos can be:

• present indicative: we finish / we are finishing
• preterite: we finished

Examples:

• Cada mañana terminamos el recado antes de las diez.
  Here it is clearly present / habitual: we finish

• Ayer terminamos el recado a las seis.
  Here ayer makes it clearly past: we finished

So if you see the sentence by itself, it is technically ambiguous.

In Spain, recado often means an errand, especially a small task like going somewhere to get or deliver something.

Depending on context, recado can also mean:

• a message
• a small task
• a shopping errand

So it is a useful word, but it is a bit context-dependent.

In everyday Spanish, learners may also hear other expressions for similar ideas, such as:

• hacer un recado = to run an errand
• hacer la compra = to do the shopping
• dar un recado = to pass on a message

Spanish usually uses an article more often than English does.

So where English might say something like finish the errand or sometimes just finish errands depending on context, Spanish often prefers a structure with an article:

• el recado
• la tarea
• el trabajo

Here el suggests that the errand is specific and already known in the conversation.

If you said un recado, that would usually mean an errand that is not yet identified or not specific.

Because the sentence is talking about one errand or one specific task.

If there were several errands, Spanish would normally use the plural:

• Terminamos los recados.

So the singular el recado means the speaker sees it as one unit or one specific errand.

Yes, you often can.

Both terminar and acabar can express the idea of finishing. But there are some nuances:

• terminar = to finish, to bring something to an end
• acabar = to finish, to end, and in some contexts to have just done something

So:

• Terminamos el recado = We finished / finish the errand
• Acabamos el recado = also possible in many contexts

But be careful with acabar de + infinitive:

• Acabamos de terminar el recado. = We have just finished the errand

That structure is very common and has a special meaning.

It is grammatical, but in real life Spaniards might often use other expressions depending on the situation.

For an errand, very common options are:

• Hicimos el recado. = We did the errand.
• Ya está hecho el recado. = The errand is done.
• Terminamos de hacer el recado. = We finished doing the errand.

Why? Because an errand is often something you do rather than something you finish in English too. So terminamos el recado is understandable, but in some contexts hicimos el recado may sound more idiomatic.

Yes. Terminamos el recado is the most neutral word order: verb + object.

But Spanish word order is flexible, especially for emphasis or contrast. For example:

• El recado lo terminamos hoy.
  This emphasizes the errand.

• Lo terminamos.
  This replaces el recado with lo.

• Terminamos nosotros el recado.
  This emphasizes that we were the ones who finished it.

So the basic sentence is normal and neutral, but other word orders are possible when you want a special emphasis.

Because el and lo do different jobs.

• el is a definite article: the
• lo is usually a direct object pronoun: it

So:

• Terminamos el recado. = We finished the errand
• Lo terminamos. = We finished it

You cannot normally use lo directly before a noun like recado in this sentence.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

tehr-mee-NA-mos

The stress falls on na:

• ter-mi-NA-mos

And recado is:

reh-KA-do

In most of Spain:

• r is a tapped sound, not like the English r
• vowels are short and clear
• each written vowel is usually pronounced distinctly

So the full sentence sounds roughly like:

tehr-mee-NA-mos el reh-KA-do

In this case, yes: recado is masculine, so it takes el.

The ending -o often signals a masculine noun, but it is only a pattern, not a guaranteed rule. Still, for recado, the masculine form is standard:

• el recado
• los recados

So in this sentence, the article agrees correctly with the noun.