Perhaps, in our articles we have analyzed all the main verbal tenses. However, there is still a group of tenses called “Tempos Compostos“, which are created from two components. Today’s article is dedicated to just that.
Preterito Perfeito Composto do Indicativo
Don’t be afraid of a long title. In fact, we have already gone through this grammatical construction before. Therefore, after looking at the examples, you will immediately remember.
We met the first time from the list of “Tempos Compostos” when we studied states and actions that began in the past and continue to this day. To do this, we used the verb “ter” (to have) in the present tense, and the ending of the main semantic verb was changed to “-ado” or “-ido“.
That is:
Ultimamente tenho estado muito cansado. (I’ve been very tired lately.)
Desde mês passado tens comido muitos doces. (You eat a lot of sweets since last month.)A
verb with the ending changed to “-ado/-ido” is called a past participle, and in Portuguese “particípio passado“.
Particípio Passado
The sacrament of the past will participate in the construction of all types of “Tempos Compostos“.
So, “particípio passado” is formed from a verb. It would be very simple if there were no exceptions. Thus, past participles are divided into regular and irregular, like verbs. In the table below you will see the main forms of irregular past participles:
| Verbo | Particípio Passado |
| abrir | aberto |
| dizer | dito |
| escrever | escrito |
| fazer | feito |
| pôr | posto |
| ver | visto |
| vir | vindo |
These forms must be memorized, because they will be useful to us in another very important topic. Moreover, there are double participles that are correct in one situation and incorrect in another. In order not to confuse them in the future, for now we will only learn this list and remember that it only applies to the tenses from the “Tempos Compostos” list.
Préterito Mais-Que-Perfeito Composto do Indicativo
The second “compound” tense describes actions that took place in the past before another action in the past. In English, such a tense is called “Past Perfect“, that is, “prepast“. To create it, we again need the verb “ter” and the past participle.
Unlike Pretérito Perfeito Composto do Indicativo, the past tense Prétérito Mais-Que-Perfeito Composto do Indicativo uses the form of the verb “ter” in Imperfeito do Indicativo.
See examples below:
A Glória já tinha vendido o carro, quando o pai dela decidiu fazer uma viagem no carro dela pelo país. (Gloria had already sold the car when her father decided to take her car around the country.)
O Alex sabia que a Maria já tinha feito um projeto grande no mês passado. (Alex knew that Maria had already done a big project last month.)
The form of the verb “ter” corresponds to the pronoun, and the past participle does not change the ending depending on the gender and number of the object. We will also need this knowledge in the future.
Futuro do Presente Composto do Indicativo
Sometimes we need to emphasize that at a certain point in the future, we will have already taken some action. The action has not been taken yet. But we can imagine that we are in the future moment of time, when in relation to him this action will already be in the past. How to express it in Portuguese? With “Futuro do Presente Composto do Indicativo”.
Once again we must use the verb “ter” and the past participle. However, this time the verb “ter” is in the future tense.
Quando fores a Portugal, já terás acabado o estudo na Universidade. (When you go to Portugal, you will have already completed your studies at the University.)
Quando receberes o primeiro salário, já terei vendido tudo da nossa casa para arranjar dinheiro. (When you get your first paycheck, I will already sell everything from our house to raise money.)
It is difficult to say how often we have to use such a construction, but it is necessary to know it. And that is not all!
Infinitivo Pessoal Composto
We used to think that after words like “depois de” (after), “sem” (without), “por” (because) and so on, we use Infinitivo Pessoal. This infinitive did not change when we talked about the past, present and future. However, there are situations where we want to use Infinitivo Pessoal, but it must be emphasized that one action will be performed before the other. To do this, we again take the construction “ter + particípio passado“.
This time, the verb “ter” undergoes the changes that the verbs in the form “Infinitivo Pessoal” underwent. That is, the appropriate endings are added to the verb “ter“.
Sem teres terminado o curso na Universidade, não podes trabalhar na minha empresa. (Without completing the course at the university, you cannot work in my company.)
All constructions that contain the verb “ter” + particípio passado have the word “composto” in their name. This case is no exception and is called “Infinitivo Pessoal Composto“.
Of course, ideally we don’t have to think about the names of tenses and constructions when we speak Portuguese. However, we want to emphasize that there is a difference between the usual order of actions and the importance that an action that has already taken place is related to a subsequent action.
Take a look at the examples below:
Nós recebemos o salário e comprámos um carro novo. (We got paid and bought a new car.)
Nós pudemos comprar um carro novo porque já tínhamos recebido o salário. (We can by a new car because we already got paid.)
Depois de termos recebido o salário, podemos comprar um carro novo. (After getting paid, we can buy a new car.)
Conclusion
Our articles contain very important information for those who are already interested in the Portuguese language. We cover all the main topics here, however, without practice, this information is easily forgotten. In the lessons at our School, you can practice your new skills in Portuguese endlessly. Write to us to enroll in a course!