Terminó sexto.

Terminó is the pretérito indefinido in Spanish, the usual past tense for a completed action.

Here it means something like:

• he/she/it finished
• you finished in formal usted

So Terminó sexto means that the action is seen as finished and complete: the person ended up in sixth place.

The accent mark shows both pronunciation and meaning.

• termino = I finish / I am finishing
• terminó = he/she/you formal finished

So the accent helps distinguish the third-person singular past form from the first-person singular present form.

Spanish often omits subject pronouns when the verb ending already makes the person clear.

So Terminó sexto can mean:

• He finished sixth
• She finished sixth
• You finished sixth (formal usted)

You only add the subject if needed for clarity or emphasis:

• Él terminó sexto
• Ella terminó sexta
• Usted terminó sexto/sexta

The exact subject usually comes from context.

Sexto means sixth.

In this sentence it refers to the position or place someone finished in, especially in a race, competition, ranking, or similar situation.

So Terminó sexto means He/She finished sixth or came sixth.

Spanish often uses an ordinal directly after verbs like terminar, quedar, or llegar when talking about position in a ranking.

So these are all possible:

• Terminó sexto
• Terminó en sexto lugar
• Quedó sexto

The shorter version, Terminó sexto, is very natural and idiomatic. It works much like English finished sixth.

Sexto agrees in gender with the person it describes.

• Terminó sexto = a masculine subject
• Terminó sexta = a feminine subject

Examples:

• Carlos terminó sexto
• Ana terminó sexta

So if the speaker is talking about a woman or girl, you normally use sexta.

Yes. It is an ordinal adjective used in a predicative way, describing the subject’s final position.

It is similar to English in sentences like:

• He finished first
• She came third

In Spanish, sexto behaves like an adjective and therefore changes for gender:

• sexto
• sexta

Usually, in a sentence like this, Terminó sexto is understood as finished in sixth place in some ordered result.

The exact context could vary:

• a race
• an exam ranking
• a tournament
• a league table
• a selection process

By itself, it normally suggests position/ranking, not simply that something ended and then there was a random number six involved.

Yes, Acabó sexto can also be correct and can sound very similar in meaning.

In many contexts:

• Terminó sexto
• Acabó sexto

both mean finished sixth.

That said, terminar is often the more straightforward verb for to finish, while acabar can also have other uses in Spanish. In context like rankings, both are natural.

In Spain, you may also hear:

• Quedó sexto = He/She came sixth

That is another very common way to express the same idea.

Because in this structure, sexto is not being used like a noun phrase such as the sixth one. It is functioning as a description of the subject’s result.

So Spanish says:

• Terminó sexto

not normally:

• Terminó el sexto

The version with the article would usually suggest a different structure or meaning and would not be the normal way to say finished sixth.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

tehr-mee-NO SEK-sto

A few points:

• the stress in terminó falls on the last syllable: -nó
• x in sexto is pronounced like ks
• sexto has the stress on SEX-

So the rhythm is roughly:

ter-mi-NÓ SEX-to