📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 8 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 2 · Las perífrasis verbales
Acabar de, volver a, dejar de
Module 12 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 8 of 30: Three phrases with an infinitive replace three English adverbs. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
acabo de llegar
I have just arrived
ah-KAH-boh deh yeh-GAR
vuelve a llover
it is raining again
BWEHL-beh ah yoh-BEHR
dejó de fumar
he stopped smoking
deh-HOH deh foo-MAR
acabó por aceptar
he ended up accepting
ah-kah-BOH pohr ah-sehp-TAR
de nuevo
again, anew
deh NWEH-boh
la repetición
the repetition
lah rreh-peh-tee-SYOHN
la interrupción
the interruption
lah een-teh-rroop-SYOHN
recién
just now, recently
rreh-SYEHN
tú vuelves a empezar
you start again
too BWEHL-behs ah ehm-peh-SAR
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Three phrases with an infinitive replace three English adverbs. Acabar de is just: acabo de llegar (I have just arrived). Volver a is again: vuelve a llover (it is raining again). Dejar de is to stop: dejó de fumar (he stopped smoking).
Y también · And also
A fourth, acabar por, is to end up: acabó por aceptar (he ended up accepting). None of them can be translated word for word — acabar de is not "to finish from" — so learn each as a unit with its preposition attached.
Ojo · Watch out
acabo de llegar is I have JUST arrived, in the present tense; acabé de llegar is not Spanish. And dejar de + infinitive is to stop doing; dejar + infinitive without de is to let: dejó fumar (he allowed smoking).
volver, presente — the table
yo vuelvo · tú vuelves · él/ella/usted vuelve · nosotros volvemos · ustedes vuelven · ellos/ellas vuelven
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with acabo de llegar.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out volver, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.