Acabar de in Portuguese: How to Say You Just Did Something
Use acabei de, acabou de, or acabamos de to say that someone has just done something, and distinguish it from finishing an activity.
Real Life Portuguese · 5 min read · Updated October 14, 2026
The short answer
Acabar de + infinitive is a common way to say that an action happened a short time ago. Conjugate acabar for the person, keep de, and leave the next verb in its infinitive form: acabei de chegar (I just arrived).
Put acabar in the right form, then add de and an infinitive
In everyday Brazilian speech, you may hear acabo de to mean “I’ve just…” or “I just…,” depending on the setting and timing. The surrounding conversation helps establish how recent the action is.
Acabei de chegar em casa.
I just got home.
Ela acabou de ligar.
She just called.
A gente acabou de almoçar.
We just had lunch.
Know who did the action
The verb acabar changes with the subject, while the following action stays in the infinitive. Say acabei de ver, você acabou de ver, or nós acabamos de ver. A question can use the same structure: Você acabou de falar com ela? (Did you just speak with her?).
Você acabou de sair?
Did you just leave?
Nós acabamos de receber a mensagem.
We just received the message.
Eles acabaram de começar a reunião.
They just started the meeting.
Compare it with terminar de
Terminar de + infinitive means to finish doing something: Terminei de ler o livro (I finished reading the book). Acabar de + infinitive usually means to have just done it: Acabei de ler o livro (I just finished reading the book). The ideas can overlap when a recently finished action is being discussed, but the emphasis differs.
- Acabei de cozinhar: I just cooked / I have just finished cooking.
- Terminei de cozinhar: I finished cooking.
- In both patterns, the second verb stays in the infinitive.
Put it into practice
Say one thing you just did with acabei de, then name an activity you finished with terminei de. Notice how the time focus changes.
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “They just started the meeting”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
Keep practicing with the Real Life Portuguese app
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