Learn Spanish (Latin America): Es terrible que la venganza termine creando más caos. - It is terrible that the revenge ends up creating more chaos.

This structure uses the verb terminar followed by a gerund (an -ando or -iendo word). It translates to "to end up doing something." It highlights the final, sometimes unintended, outcome of a situation. Here, termine creando means "ends up creating."

Why is terminar conjugated as termine rather than termina?

The opening phrase Es terrible que (It is terrible that) expresses a subjective judgment or negative emotion. This is a classic trigger that forces the verb in the second part of the sentence into the subjunctive mood, which is why we use the subjunctive form termine.

Could I use acabe instead of termine here?

Yes, absolutely! Both terminar and acabar followed by a gerund mean "to end up doing something." You could say ...que la venganza acabe creando más caos and it would mean exactly the same thing.

What would happen if I used the infinitive crear instead of the gerund creando?