Abstract
In our contribution we will present some problems that we face in the semantic analysis of verbal periphrasis "acabar + infinitivo" in portuguese language that belongs to the periphrastic aspectual constructions with terminative aspectual meaning. This allows the ambiguous interpretation of the periphrasis - its meaning can be interpreted as aspectual terminative egressive (action that has been held just before the moment of enunciation: Acabo de voltar = I got back a few minutes ago.
Another reading gives this periphrasis a conclusive terminative aspectual meaning (end of action: A sala explodiu quando Claude Alvares acabou de falar = The room exploded when Claude Alvares had finished speaking.) The final interpretation is not always easy and depends on the context and the adverbial complementation present in the sentence structure. The work is based on a detailed analysis of the material acquired in corpus CETEM/Público (1178 occurrences).