Spanish Verb Acabar Conjugation

Acabar is a Spanish verb typically meaning "to finish" or "to end," and it can be used as a synonym of terminar or completar.

Acabar is a regular -ar verb. Below you'll find its conjugations for the present, future, imperfect, and preterite in the indicative mood; the present and imperfect in the subjunctive mood; the imperative mood; the past participle; and the gerund.

How to Use Acabar

When it takes a direct object, acabar can be used for completing a task or finishing the consumption of something, such as a food or drink.

Acabar can also be used intransitively, meaning in this case that the subject of the sentence finishes or comes to an end. For example, "la campaña acabó" can be used for "the campaign ended."

When acabar is followed by de and an infinitive—usually in the present indicative tense—it indicates that an action was recently completed. For example, "Acabo de salir" could be translated as "I have just left."

When followed by a gerund, acabar carries the idea of "to finish by" or "to end up." For example, "acabaré sabiendo más que mi maestro" means "I will end up knowing more than my teacher."

Present Indicative Tense of Acabar

The present indicative is primarily for actions that are occurring at the moment or that occur generally or habitually. Translations include both "she finishes" and "she is finishing," depending on the context.

Acabar Preterite

The preterite is one of the two simple past tenses of Spanish. It is used for actions that have a definite end, while the imperfect out of context doesn't indicate a clear end to the action.

Imperfect Indicative Form of Acabar

Acabar Future Tense

The simple future and the periphrastic future have similar uses, although the simple future is more formal.

Periphrastic Future of Acabar

Present Progressive/Gerund Form of Acabar

The gerund is another name for the present participle. It can function as an adverb or be used to form the progressive or continuous tenses.

Gerund of acabar: está acabando

is finishing -> Yo estoy acabando el año con un triunfo.

Past Participle of Acabar

The past participle is used to form the perfect tenses and can also function as an adjective. An example of adjectival use is in la obra no acabada, the unfinished work.

Participle of acabar: ha acabado

has finished -> Yo he acabado el año con un triunfo.

Conditional Form of Acabar

Unlike the other tenses, the conditional tense doesn't necessarily have a time element. It is used for actions whose completion is conditioned on some other event, which doesn't have to be explicitly stated.

Present Subjunctive of Acabar

The subjunctive mood is used much more often in Spanish than in English. It typically is used in clauses that begin with que when it means "that" or "which."

Imperfect Subjunctive Forms of Acabar

There are two possible conjugations for the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish. The first option is more common.

Option 1

Option 2

Imperative Forms of Acabar

The imperative mood is used for direct commands. It shares most of its forms with the present subjunctive.

Imperative (Positive Command)

Imperative (Negative Command)