acabar and ir a
ACABAR DE and IR A
Pattern: The construction acabar de + (infinitive verb) is used to say what someone has just done.
Pattern: The construction ir a + (infinitive verb) is used to say what someone is going to do.
Introduction
Sometimes
two verbs are required to say something useful. In cases like this,
only the first verb is conjugated, and the second remains in the
infinitive form. An infinitive is an unconjugated verb.
Acabar de + (infinitive)
Acabar de is a useful phrase to tell what someone has just been doing. Acabar is a regular "ar" verb and is conjugated as follows
Pronoun
|
Acabar
| ||
Singular |
I
|
yo
|
acabo
|
You (informal)
|
tú
|
acabas
| |
He
She
You (formal)
|
él
ella
usted
|
acaba
| |
Plural
|
We
|
nosotros
|
acabamos
|
They
You all
|
ellos
ustedes
|
acaban
| |
Examples:
Acabamos de hablar con Matilde. = We just talked with Matilde.
Acabo de terminar mi tarea. = I just finished my homework.
David acaba de comer. = David just ate.
Notice that the verb following the phrase acabar de MUST be an infinitive.
Ir a + (infinitive)
Ir a is a useful phrase to tell what someone is going to do. Ir is an irregular verb whose forms must simply be memorized. Here are the forms.
Pronoun
|
Ir a
| ||
Singular |
I
|
yo
|
voy
|
You (informal)
|
tú
|
vas
| |
He
She
You (formal)
|
él
ella
usted
|
va
| |
Plural
|
We
|
nosotros
|
vamos
|
They
You all
|
ellos
ustedes
|
van
| |
Examples:
Van a comer en un restaurante. = They are going to eat at a restaurant.
Yo voy a jugar al tenis. = I am going to play tennis.
Juan va a estudiar esta noche. = Juan is going to study tonight.
Notice that the verb following the phrase ir a MUST be infinitive.
Putting it Together
These two phrases are very convenient ways of talking about the recent past and the near future.
When used together, we can talk about where we have been and where we are going. For example:
Acabo de jugar baloncesto. I just played basketball.
Voy a ducharme. I am going to take a shower.
Contractions: al and del
When a or de comes before the definite article el, a contraction is formed.
a + el = al
de + el = del
Examples
Voy al supermercado. (Not "Voy a el supermercado.")
Camino del banco a la tienda todos los días. (Not "de el banco.")
