Why Acabar de Is One of Spanish's Most Elegant Constructions
English says I just arrived using the adverb just with a past tense. Spanish has a dedicated construction for the same idea: acabar de + infinitive — literally to have just finished doing something.
It's precise, natural, and one of the constructions that makes Spanish feel like Spanish rather than translated English. Learn these six chunk patterns and you'll have the recent past covered in any tense.
Pattern 1: Acabo de + infinitive — "I just did"
The base pattern. Acabar de in the present tense expresses something that happened moments ago — the immediate past. The most natural way to say I just… in Spanish.
- Acabo de llegar. — I just arrived.
- Acabo de hablar con ella. — I just spoke with her.
- ¿Acabas de comer? — Did you just eat?
Chunk to learn:
Acabo/Acabas/Acaba de + [infinitive] — just did something
Pattern 2: Acababa de + infinitive — "Had just done"
Acabar de in the imperfect expresses what had just happened at a point in the past — perfect for storytelling and setting up narrative sequences. The imperfect here signals immediacy in the past, not ongoing action.
- Acababa de salir cuando empezó a llover. — He had just left when it started to rain.
- Acabábamos de cenar cuando llamaron. — We had just finished dinner when they called.
- Acababa de dormirme cuando sonó la alarma. — I had just fallen asleep when the alarm went off.
Chunk to learn:
Acababa de + [infinitive] + cuando + [preterite] — had just done when
Pattern 3: Acabo de enterarme — Reacting to news
A fixed high-frequency chunk for reacting to something you've just found out. Enterarse (to find out, to hear) is one of the most natural verbs in this slot and produces one of the most common reactions in everyday conversation.
- Acabo de enterarme de lo que pasó. — I just found out what happened.
- ¿Te acabas de enterar? — Did you just find out?
- Acabo de enterarme ahora mismo. — I literally just found out.
Chunk to learn:
Acabo de enterarme (de + [noun/clause]) — I just found out
Pattern 4: Esto acaba de empezar — "This has just begun"
Use acabar de with a third-person subject to comment on events unfolding around you. This pattern is common in both casual commentary and more dramatic contexts.
- Esto acaba de empezar. — This has just begun.
- Acaba de llegar el paquete. — The package just arrived.
- Acaban de anunciar los resultados. — They've just announced the results.
Chunk to learn:
Acaba/Acaban de + [infinitive] — something just happened
Pattern 5: Nada más + infinitive — The natural alternative
Nada más + infinitive is the most common alternative to acabar de for expressing immediacy — as soon as / the moment something happened. Worth learning alongside acabar de since natives use both interchangeably in many contexts.
- Nada más llegar, me llamó. — As soon as I arrived, she called me.
- Nada más verlo, supe que algo pasaba. — The moment I saw him, I knew something was wrong.
- Nada más terminar, nos fuimos. — As soon as we finished, we left.
Chunk to learn:
Nada más + [infinitive] — as soon as / the moment
Pattern 6: Acabar de + infinitive in questions — Checking recency
In questions, acabar de checks whether something happened very recently — often with a slightly surprised or verifying tone. It's one of the most natural ways to confirm timing.
- ¿Acabas de llegar? — Did you just get here?
- ¿Acaba de decir eso en serio? — Did he just say that seriously?
- ¿Acabáis de terminar? — Did you all just finish?
Chunk to learn:
¿Acabas/Acaba de + [infinitive]? — did [someone] just…?
Two Tenses, One Construction
The elegance of acabar de is that one construction covers two time frames: present tense for what just happened now, imperfect for what had just happened then. Master both and you have the immediate past covered across any narrative context.
Start with acabo de llegar and acababa de salir cuando… — the two most useful slots, and both immediately recognizable to any native speaker.
This post is part of the Spanish Chunk Series — a growing collection of chunk patterns for natural Spanish.