Acabar de + Infinitive: Just Finished
Acabar de + infinitive says that something has just happened: acabei de chegar, I have just arrived. In Portugal the everyday form is the pretérito perfeito (acabei de...), and the imperfect (acabava de...) does the same for a moment in the past. With por instead of de, acabar means to end up doing something.
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European Portuguese Grammar Guide
In the pretérito perfeito, acabar de + infinitive means "to have just done" something. This is the form you will hear every day in Portugal.
Acabei de chegar.
I have just arrived.
Ela acabou de telefonar.
She has just called.
The present tense (acabo de...) means the same but sounds more formal. You will find it in letters, emails and announcements.
Acabo de receber a sua mensagem.
I have just received your message.
Formal: a sua mensagem speaks to você or o senhor. In a chat with a friend you would write acabei de receber a tua mensagem.
In the imperfect, acabar de expresses the "just past" relative to a past narrative moment.
Quando entraste, eu acabava de adormecer.
When you came in, I had just fallen asleep.
Just done, or finished?
Acabar de can also keep its literal meaning, to finish doing something. Words like ainda não (not yet) or a time such as ontem (yesterday) tell you that it means finish rather than just.
Ainda não acabei de ler o livro.
I have not finished reading the book yet.
Acabei de pintar a sala ontem à noite.
I finished painting the living room last night.
Acabar por: to end up doing
With por instead of de, acabar means "to end up doing": what happened in the end, often after other plans.
Estava a chover, por isso acabámos por ficar em casa.
It was raining, so we ended up staying at home.
Estava a chover is the European Portuguese progressive (estar a + infinitive).
🇵🇹 European Portuguese
Acabámos de jantar.
🇧🇷 Brazilian Portuguese
Acabamos de jantar.
In Portugal the past-tense nós form sounds different from the present (an open a) and is usually written with an accent, acabámos, which keeps it apart from acabamos (we finish). In Brazil both sound the same and are spelt acabamos.
Ele saiu há pouco.
He left a little while ago.
Há pouco (a little while ago) is the other everyday way to say just.
This construction is always followed by the plain (impersonal) infinitive, never the personal infinitive. Acabei de comer — not acabei de comeres.
English just is not só here. Só means only: só comi uma sopa is I only had a soup. For I have just eaten, say acabei de comer.
From a PortuStories Story
Não podes falar com ela agora — acabou de sair.
You can't speak to her now — she has just left.