Compound perfect and recent repeated actions in Brazilian Portuguese

Level B1

Compound perfect and recent repeated actions in Brazilian Portuguese

Brazilian Portuguese uses present-tense ter plus a past participle for repeated actions or situations continuing over a period leading up to the present. English often uses the present perfect continuous for these meanings, sometimes the present perfect. Do not use tenho feito simply because English uses “have done”: a single completed event normally takes the Portuguese simple past. The examples also use conversational forms: pra means para, pros means para os, and a gente means “we” but takes a third-person singular verb. In more formal writing, prefer para, para os, and nós with its matching verb form.

The verb escrever (to write)

Present-tense forms of ter

SubjectForm of ter
ter
eutenho
você, ele, elatem
nóstemos
vocês, elestêm

Repeated actions over a recent period

sujeito forma de {ter|have-auxiliary} no presente particípio passado frequência ou período recente.

Irregular past participles

InfinitivePast participleExampleMore examples
fazerfeitoTenho feito compras pros meus pais ultimamente.
vervistoTenho visto seu irmão no ônibus bastante ultimamente.A gente tem visto o mesmo carro parado na frente de casa toda noite.
dizerditoEla tem dito que quer um emprego novo.Eles têm falado coisas boas do seu trabalho ultimamente.
escreverescritoTenho escrito pra minha irmã toda semana.

The past participle stays the same

In this construction, ter changes to match the subject, but the past participle does not change for gender or number. “Tenho escrito pra minha irmã toda semana” and “Eles têm escrito mensagens pra gente todos os dias” both use escrito. This resembles English “I have written” and “They have written”: the auxiliary changes, while the participle stays fixed.

Situations continuing over a recent period

sujeito forma de {ter|have-auxiliary} no presente particípio passado condição ou situação período recente.

Recent recurrence, a finished event, and action happening now

Use present-tense ter plus a past participle for repeated actions or situations continuing over a recent period: “Tenho feito compras pros meus pais ultimamente” means “I've been doing the shopping for my parents lately.” Use the simple past for a completed event: “Fiz compras pros meus pais ontem” means “I did the shopping for my parents yesterday.” Use estar plus the gerund for an action in progress now: “Estou fazendo compras pros meus pais agora” means “I'm doing the shopping for my parents right now.” English “I've been doing” looks back over a period up to now; “I'm doing” describes the action in progress now.

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