Spanish · Chapter 12 · Lesson 6 · Grammar primer
Verbal periphrasis
Prescribed by the AQA specification.
The short version
The de is what delivers have just
Acabar de plus an infinitive is the Spanish for 'have just', and the little de is what does the work. Keep it in the present for 'have just' and the imperfect for 'had just', as in acababa de comer. Strip the de out and the meaning changes: acabo el trabajo is 'I finish the work', not 'I have just worked'.
Acabo de llegar.
Volver a is the Spanish re-
Volver a plus an infinitive is the neatest trick in the set: it is Spanish for the English prefix 're-' or the adverb 'again'. Volvió a llamar means 'he called again', not 'he returned to call'. Where English builds a dedicated verb, Spanish just says volver a escribir, volver a leer, volver a nacer.
No lo volveré a hacer.
That's the gist. The full article goes deeper - more examples, the edge cases, the why - and the practice below scores like a vocabulary session and earns the same XP.
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One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
Lesson 6 of 11 in this chapter