Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): El escrutinio terminó esta noche.

Spanish often uses the definite article where English might not. Here el escrutinio means the count / the scrutiny / the tally, referring to a specific one that is already understood from the context, such as an election count.

What does escrutinio mean exactly?

Escrutinio is a masculine noun. In general it can mean close examination or scrutiny, but in news and political contexts it very often means the counting of votes or the official tally.

So in Spain, this sentence would commonly be understood as something like the vote count ended tonight.

Why is it terminó and not terminaba?

Terminó is the preterite, which is used for a completed action seen as a whole.

That fits here because the sentence presents the ending of the count as a finished event:

El escrutinio terminó esta noche = the count finished tonight.

If you used terminaba, that would be the imperfect, which usually gives background information, describes an ongoing situation, or suggests something habitual. It would not sound as natural here for a single completed ending.

What does the accent mark in terminó do?