Acabo de llegar.I've just arrived.

Spanish has a neat, very direct way to say something happened only moments ago — no new verb tense needed, just a familiar verb used in a special pattern.

Quick shortcut: conjugate acabar in the present, then add de + infinitive. Acabo de comer = "I've just eaten."

Forming it

Acabar is a regular -ar verb, conjugated normally in the present tense, followed by de and the infinitive of whatever just happened:

acabar de + infinitive
yo acabo de
tú acabas de
él/ella/usted acaba de
nosotros/as acabamos de
vosotros/as acabáis de
ellos/ellas/ustedes acaban de

Acabo de llegar. (I've just arrived.) ¿Acabas de comer? (Have you just eaten?) Acaba de salir. (She's just left.) Acabamos de terminar el proyecto. (We've just finished the project.)

Only acabar is conjugated — the second verb always stays in the infinitive, however many people are involved: acaban de llegar, not ❌ acaban de llegan.

What it actually says

Acabar de + infinitive points to something that happened a very short time ago — right before now, or right before whatever moment the sentence is talking about. It's the natural way to answer "what just happened?"

—¿Dónde está Marta? —Acaba de salir. ("Where's Marta?" "She's just left.") Acabo de recibir tu mensaje. (I've just received your message.)

acabar de vs. the present perfect

Spanish also has a present perfect (he/has/ha + participio) for recent events — He terminado el trabajo (I've finished the work). In varieties of Spanish where the present perfect is used this way (common in Spain, though many Latin American varieties would simply say Terminé el trabajo with the preterite instead), it covers a broader stretch of recent time without pinning the action to this exact moment; acabar de specifically means "just now, moments ago," and works the same way everywhere:

He comido paella hoy. (I've eaten paella today — at some point today, in varieties where the present perfect is used this way.) Acabo de comer. (I've just eaten — very recently, right before now.)

If you want to stress how recent something is, acabar de is the precise, universally understood choice, regardless of how your variety of Spanish otherwise handles the recent past.

When a pronoun is involved

If the infinitive is reflexive or takes an object pronoun, that pronoun can attach directly to the end of the infinitive, or move in front of the conjugated acabar — both are correct, exactly like with other verb + infinitive combinations:

Acabo de levantarme. / Me acabo de levantar. (I've just gotten up.) Acaba de verlo. / Lo acaba de ver. (She's just seen it.)

Common mistakes

  • ❌ Acabo comer. → ✅ Acabo de comer. (de is never optional between acabar and the infinitive.)
  • ❌ Acaban de llegan. → ✅ Acaban de llegar. (the second verb always stays in the infinitive, never conjugated to match the subject.)
  • ❌ Acabo de comiendo. → ✅ Acabo de comer. (an infinitive follows de, not a gerund.)

Quick check

  1. Say "I've just finished" using acabar de.
  2. Say "They've just arrived" using acabar de.
  3. What's wrong with Ella acaba de salido, and how would you fix it?
  4. Rewrite Acabo de despertarme moving the pronoun in front of acabar instead.
Show answers
  1. Acabo de terminar.
  2. Acaban de llegar.
  3. Acaba de salido is wrong because the verb after de must be an infinitive, not a participle → Acaba de salir.
  4. Me acabo de despertar.

Key takeaways

  • Acabar (conjugated in the present) + de + infinitive says something happened just moments ago: acabo de comer = "I've just eaten."
  • The second verb always stays in the infinitive — only acabar changes for the subject.
  • Acabar de always means "just now," everywhere Spanish is spoken — unlike the present perfect, whose use for the recent past (and competition with the preterite) varies by region.
  • A reflexive or object pronoun for the infinitive can attach to it directly or move in front of acabar: acabo de levantarme / me acabo de levantar.