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L'incarico è finalmente finito.

L'incarico è finalmente finito.
The assignment is finally finished.
From Lesson 241:Auxiliaries with start and stop verbs (essere, avere)·Italian

Questions & Answers about L'incarico è finalmente finito.

Why does this sentence use è (from essere) as the helping verb for finito?
Finire is a verb that can use either avere or essere depending on how it is used. When a person finishes an object, you use avere (like Ho finito l'incarico - I finished the assignment). But when the thing itself just 'finishes' or 'comes to an end' without a direct object following it, it takes essere. Here, the assignment is the subject that comes to an end.
Because we used essere, does the ending of finito have to match the subject?
Exactly! Whenever a verb takes essere in compound tenses like the passato prossimo, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Since l'incarico is a masculine singular noun, finito ends in -o. If the subject were feminine, like la riunione (the meeting), it would be è finita.
Why is finalmente placed right in the middle of the verb?
Placing an adverb between the auxiliary verb (è) and the past participle (finito) is standard in Italian, much like it is in English ('is finally finished'). Common adverbs like finalmente, già (already), sempre (always), and mai (never) almost always tuck right into this spot.
What kind of 'assignment' is an incarico?
L'incarico refers to a task, duty, or commission entrusted to someone, usually in a professional or official context. You can see the word carico (load or burden) inside it. If you wanted to talk about a school homework assignment, you would instead use il compito.

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