Yap.Town

yo acababa

was finishing, used to finish

a k a ˈb a b a → acabar
acab to finish, to end + aba imperfect tense: I/he/she
verb · first singular · imperfect indicative Rare #44,767
was finishing, used to finish Imperfect tense; the exact English translation depends on the context.
SP: Cuando llegaste, yo acababa la cena.
EN: When you arrived, I was finishing dinner.
Conjugation of acabar
Subjunctive imperfect
SingularPlural
First acababa —
Third acabara —
Indicative imperfect
SingularPlural
First acababa —
Third acababa —

Y justo cuando la oruga pensó que se acababa el mundo, se convirtió en mariposa.

And just when the caterpillar thought the world was ending, it turned into a butterfly.

Siempre me hacía ilusiones y siempre acababa en nada.

I always got my hopes up, and it always ended up being nothing.

— Amarcord (1973)

Por mucho que trabajaba, Amparo no acababa de encontrar el antídoto.

No matter how hard she worked, Amparo couldn't find the antidote.

— Hable con ella (2002)

Nos casamos cuando el pequeño acababa de nacer.

We got married when the little one had just been born.

— Los cuatrocientos golpes (1959)

Sounds similar to

acabada a k a ˈb a d a acabara a k a ˈb a ɾ a