Necesito acabar mi informe antes de jugar con mis primos.

I need to finish my report before playing with my cousins.

Breakdown of Necesito acabar mi informe antes de jugar con mis primos.

• yo: I
• mi: my
• con: with
• necesitar: to need
• antes de: before
• mis: my
• acabar: to finish
• el informe: the report
• jugar: to play
• el primo: the cousin

Questions & Answers about Necesito acabar mi informe antes de jugar con mis primos.

What does acabar mean in this context?

Acabar here means to finish or to complete. It’s synonymous with terminar and highlights that you want to bring something to an end.

Why do we say mi informe instead of el informe?

Using mi informe indicates my report, making it personal. If you use el informe, it might sound like you’re talking about a more general or someone else’s report, rather than your own.

Do I need to change the form of jugar after antes de?

No, when one verb follows antes de, the second verb remains in its infinitive form in Spanish. So it stays as antes de jugar, not antes de juego.

Could I use tengo que instead of necesito here?

Yes, you could say Tengo que acabar mi informe antes de jugar con mis primos, which also means I have to finish my report before playing with my cousins. Necesito can sound stronger or more personal, implying that it’s your own necessity rather than an obligation.

Why do we say con mis primos and not a mis primos?

When you talk about doing something with people, you use con in Spanish. A is typically used with verbs like ayudar a (to help someone) or invitar a (to invite someone), but to express the idea of doing something with someone, you need con.