Emphasizing Ongoing Actions with Ter

The Pretérito Perfeito Composto is a team effort. You take the verb ter and pair it with a past participle. But the real magic is in the timing. In many other Romance languages (like Spanish or French), this structure is used for finished actions. In Portuguese, it signals a process or a repetition. You aren’t looking at a single point on a timeline. You are looking at a shaded area that reaches right up to the present moment. It’s like a Netflix series you’re currently binging. You started it yesterday, you watched more today, and you’ll likely watch more tomorrow. If you say Tenho assistido, people know you’re in the middle of a marathon. It implies that the action is iterative. It’s not about the result; it’s about the habit. Even native speakers mess this up when translating from English, so mastering this nuance will make you sound incredibly sophisticated.

1. 1Start with the auxiliary verb ter in the Presente do Indicativo.
2. 2Eu tenho (I have)
3. 3Tu tens / Você tem (You have)
4. 4Ele/Ela tem (He/She has)
5. 5Nós temos (We have)
6. 6Eles/Elas/Vocês têm (They/You all have - notice that spicy circumflex accent!)
7. 7Add the Past Participle of your main verb.
8. 8For -ar verbs: remove the ending and add -ado. (e.g., falar -> falado)
9. 9For -er and -ir verbs: remove the ending and add -ido. (e.g., comer -> comido, dormir -> dormido)
10. 10Keep an eye out for the irregular rebels. They don't follow the rules.
11. 11fazer (to do) becomes feito.
12. 12dizer (to say) becomes dito.
13. 13escrever (to write) becomes escrito.
14. 14ver (to see) becomes visto.
15. 15Put it all together: Tenho + estudado = "I have been studying."

Use this when an action is repetitive or a recent habit. It’s the "lately" tense. Maybe you’ve started a new fitness journey. You’d say Tenho ido à academia. This tells your friends that you didn't just go once; you're actually making an effort. It’s also perfect for ongoing states of mind. If you’ve been feeling a bit off, Tenho me sentido cansado explains that the fatigue is a trend, not a one-off event. It is excellent for job interviews to show consistent experience: Tenho trabalhado com gestão de projetos. This sounds much more active than just saying you worked on one project once. You should also use it for social updates. Temos saído muito ultimamente makes you sound like a social butterfly. Finally, it's the ultimate "complaint" tense. O meu vizinho tem feito muito barulho. You aren't just annoyed about one party; you're annoyed about the whole week of loud music. It’s also great for ordering food or drinks if you're talking about a recent preference: Tenho tomado muito chá verde (I've been drinking a lot of green tea lately).

This is where most learners trip up. Do NOT use it for a single, completed action in the past. If you bought a car yesterday, do not say Tenho comprado um carro. That would imply you buy cars every day like they’re loaves of bread. Just use the simple past: Comprei um carro. Also, don't use it for things that happened a long time ago and stayed there. If you lived in Lisbon in the 90s, use Morei. If you say Tenho morado em Lisboa, your friend will think you're still living there right now. It is also not for permanent, universal truths. You wouldn't use it to say the sun is hot. It’s strictly for things that fluctuate or repeat over a specific, recent period of time. If you use it for a one-time event, you'll see a look of confusion on a native speaker's face, like you've just told them you've been "starting" your car every five minutes for a year.

The "English Trap" is the biggest hurdle. Because English uses "have done" for finished events, learners try to translate Eu tenho visto esse filme to mean "I have seen that movie." In Portuguese, that actually means "I have been watching that movie repeatedly lately." If you saw it once, just say Já vi. Another classic is forgetting the accent on the plural têm. Without that little hat, you're accidentally using the singular form for a group of people. Pronoun placement is another tricky spot. In Brazil, you’ll usually hear Tenho me sentido. In Portugal, they prefer Tenho-me sentido. Don't sweat it too much, but try to be consistent with whichever region you're mimicking. Finally, don't use it for long-term, lifelong habits that started twenty years ago and haven't changed. For that, Sempre fumei (I've always smoked) is better than Tenho fumado, which implies a recent uptick in the habit.

It’s helpful to compare Tenho feito with Estou fazendo (Present Continuous). Estou fazendo is what is happening right this second. You are typing. You are eating. Tenho feito is about what has been happening in your life lately, even if you aren't doing it this exact second. You could be at the beach right now, but you can still say Tenho trabalhado muito. Also, compare it with the simple past Fiz. Fiz os deveres means the homework is done and you're ready for video games. Tenho feito os deveres means you've been a diligent student all week. It’s a subtle shift in focus from the *result* to the *repetition*. Think of Fiz as a snapshot and Tenho feito as a short video clip showing a recurring scene.