How is the imperfect of 'acabar de [+ infinitive] translated to English?

Question

Does yo acababa de cenar translate to:

I had just finished eating dinner

or

I was just finishing eating dinner

The former. The latter would be translated as "Estaba terminando de cenar" ("acabando" is most unusual). — Gustavson, Commented Aug 22, 2017 at 1:25

Gorpik · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-22 06:16:19Z

2

Yo acababa de cenar refers to the moment right after finishing your dinner. In English, the form used for that is the past perfect:

I had just finished my dinner

Let's try with a complete sentence:

Yo acababa de cenar cuando llamaron a la puerta

In English you convey the same meaning this way:

I had just finished my dinner when the door bell rang.

answered Aug 22, 2017 at 6:16

Gorpik

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1

This is nitpicking, but note the OP didn't specify any context. Todos los días mientras yo acababa de cenar... would use the present continuous in English translation.
– pablodf76
Commented Aug 22, 2017 at 19:43
1

@pablodf76 It's taken me a bit to understand you, but now I get it. Yes, acabar can be used here with its intrinsic meaning (a synonym of terminar) and the English equivalent would use the continuous form (past continuous, in this case). But, based on the comments for the question, I don't think it is the case.
– Gorpik
Commented Aug 23, 2017 at 6:24
I just thought this over and I think this is not correct in any case. The imperfect acababa must refer to an ongoing action ("I was finishing my dinner"). That's how I'd perceive it, anyway. If my dinner had already been finished when the bell rang I'd say Yo había acabado etc.
– pablodf76
Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 16:09

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