📖LearnModule 4 · Lesson 5 of 30Basic User · CEFR A2, completedUnit 1 · El pretérito, part II — the irregulars
Acabo de — just now, and yesterday in full
Module 4 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A2, completed), lesson 5 of 30: Acabar de + infinitive says what has JUST happened: Acabo de comer — I have just eaten. On this page: 7 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
acabar de
to have just
ah-kah-BAR deh
yo acabo de comer
I have just eaten
yoh ah-KAH-boh deh koh-MEHR
acabamos de llegar
we have just arrived
ah-kah-BAH-mohs deh yeh-GAR
yo compré fresas
I bought strawberries
yoh kohm-PREH FREH-sahs
yo leí mi libro
I read my book
yoh leh-EE mee LEE-broh
el día entero
the whole day
ehl DEE-ah ehn-TEH-roh
vi una película anoche
I watched a movie last night
bee OO-nah peh-LEE-koo-lah ah-NOH-cheh
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
Acabar de + infinitive says what has JUST happened: Acabo de comer — I have just eaten. Acabamos de llegar. One regular -ar verb in the present, and the whole "just" idea comes free.
Y también · And also
Now yesterday, in full: Ayer fui al mercado. Compré fresas. Luego estuve en el parque y leí mi libro. Por la noche vi una película. Write YOUR yesterday the same way — regular and irregular pasts side by side.
Ojo · Watch out
acabar de + infinitive, in the PRESENT, means to have just done: acabo de comer. The de is not optional, and the second verb never changes.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with acabar de.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 5 in Module 4 are the written half of this page.
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.