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It’s not uncommon to hear Spanish language students say finito! when they finish doing a quiz or an exercise. The thing is that finito meaning done! is not a Spanish word, it’s the past participle of the Italian verb finire.
Finito in Spanish is an adjective that is used mainly in mathematics referring to a finite equation or something that has an end i.e. that is not infinite. It has the same meaning as finite in English.
When you finish doing something you never say it’s finite! in English, correct?
The same applies to Spanish; we don’t say está finito.
Probably there is also some confusion from the French language since they say C’est fini!
Both, finito and finite, come from the Latin word finitus. In Spanish you would use terminar, finalizar, or acabar. If you want to say ready! just say ¡listo! ¡ya está listo! ¡ya terminé! ¡ya acabé!. (Ya for emphasis.)
Finito in Spanish could be also the diminutive of the adjective fino, fine in English, meaning very thin.
Originally published on 20060416. Latest update on 20210420 (spanishNY.com) top
