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Study Resource: How to use ‘acabar de’ in Brazilian Portuguese

By: Fabiana Dametto Oliveira

The construction acabar de + infinitive can be used in the preterite tense to describe an action that just happened or has just happened (in the recent past).

Subject Pronounsacabar de… meaning to have just…Example
eu meaning I
acabei de
Eu acabei de acordar.
Translation: I have just woken up.
tu meaning you
acabaste de
Tu acabaste de acordar.
Translation: You have just woken up.
você meaning you, sg.ele meaning he, itela meaning she, it
acabou de
Ela acabou de acordar.
Translation: She has just woken up.
nós meaning we
acabamos de
Nós acabamos de acordar.
Translation: We have just woken up.
vós* meaning you, formal
acabastes de
Vós acabastes de acordar.
Translation: You have just woken up.
vocês meaning you, pl.eles, elas meaning they
acabaram de
Eles acabaram de acordar.
Translation: They have just woken up.

Though it is less common, you can also use the present tense of acabar de in this construction to discuss the recent past, with no significant change in meaning. Here are the present tense forms of acabar de:

Subject Pronounsacabar de… meaning to have just…
eu meaning I
acabo de
tu meaning you
acabas de
você meaning you, sg.ele meaning he, itela meaning she, it
acaba de
nós meaning we
acabamos de
vós* meaning you, formal
acabais de
vocês meaning you, pl.eles, elas meaning they
acabam de