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Por fin terminamos el trabajo.

Por fin terminamos el trabajo.
At last we finished the work.
From Lesson 221:Ending up doing something (terminar, acabar)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Por fin terminamos el trabajo.

The lesson is about using terminar with a gerund. Why isn't there a gerund in this sentence?
In this sentence, terminar is used in its basic sense: to finish or complete a thing (el trabajo). You only use the terminar + gerund structure (like terminamos trabajando) when you want to express that someone ended up doing an action.
Terminamos is the form for both the present and the past tense for "we". How do we know it means "finished" here?
It comes down to context. The phrase por fin (at last) shows relief that a long-awaited goal was reached. That strongly points to a completed action, making this the preterite (simple past) tense: "we finished."
Could I use al fin or finalmente instead of por fin?
Yes, you could use either! Por fin, al fin, and finalmente can all mean "finally" or "at last." Por fin is especially common in everyday conversation when expressing relief or satisfaction, which fits perfectly here.

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