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Acabamos reventando la bolsa por el susto.

Acabamos reventando la bolsa por el susto.
We ended up bursting the bag because of the scare.
From Lesson 221:Ending up doing something (terminar, acabar)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Acabamos reventando la bolsa por el susto.

Why is it acabamos reventando instead of using a preposition like acabamos de reventar?
When you want to say you "ended up doing" something, you use the verb acabar (or terminar) followed directly by a gerund (an -ando or -iendo word). So, acabamos reventando means "we ended up bursting". If you said acabamos de reventar, that uses the "acabar de + infinitive" structure, which means "we just finished bursting" or "we have just burst".
Does acabamos here mean "we end up" (present) or "we ended up" (past)?
In this translation it means "we ended up" (past tense), but it could actually be either! For verbs ending in -ar, the nosotros (we) form is spelled exactly the same in both the present tense and the simple past (preterite) tense. You have to rely on context to know when it happened.
Could I use terminamos instead of acabamos in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely! Acabar and terminar are completely interchangeable when paired with a gerund to mean "to end up doing something." You could say terminamos reventando la bolsa and it would mean exactly the same thing.
I remember reventar having a stem change. Why isn't it revientando?
You have a great memory! Reventar does have an e-to-ie stem change in the present tense (like revienta). However, -ar and -er verbs never change their stems in the gerund (-ando / -iendo) form. That is why it stays as the regular reventando.
Why do we use por instead of para in por el susto?
We use por when talking about the cause, motive, or reason for an action. Here, the bag burst because of the scare. If you used para, it would mean you burst the bag in order to get a scare, which doesn't make much sense!

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