“Acabar de”, “acabar con”, “acabar por”
CEFR B2 · part 2
edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.
“Quería que vinieras”: the tense drags the mood with itMatching the subjunctive to the main verb: present with present (“quiero que vengas”)…“Sin embargo”, “por tanto”, “en cambio”The connectors that hold an argument together, and what each one promises: “sin…“Serán las tres”: a future that is not about the futureUsing the future for a guess about now (“serán las tres”, “estará en casa”) and the…“Fue construido” or “estaba construido”Telling the action apart from the state it leaves behind: “la puerta fue cerrada a las…“Un momentito”: the diminutive is not about sizeWhat “-ito” really adds: affection (“abuelita”), politeness (“un momentito”), softening…“Me alegro de que vengas”: feelings take the subjunctiveThe subjunctive after anything that reacts to a fact instead of reporting it: “me alegro…The rule, in three lines
Some verbs change meaning entirely with the preposition: acabar de (to have just), acabar con (to put an end to), acabar por (to end up doing). The same happens with dar con (to find), dar a (to look out onto) and dar por (to consider).
The usual slip. Learning one meaning and applying it everywhere, which produces sentences that are grammatical and say something else entirely.
Why it catches you out. English does this too —“give up”, “give in”, “give away”— so you know the phenomenon. What you do not have is any way to guess: your phrasal verbs and these do not line up, and “acabar con” is not “finish with”.