Compound Tenses: Expressing Complex Actions

Compound tenses are verbal formations that use a conjugated auxiliary verb plus the participle of the main verb. These structures allow us to express temporal and aspectual nuances that simple tenses cannot capture precisely.

What are Compound Tenses?

Compound tenses are characterized by:

Structure: Auxiliary + Participle
Main auxiliaries: TER (to have) and HAVER (to have - formal)
Invariable participle: Doesn’t agree in gender or number
Precise temporal expression: Anteriority, completion, duration

Formation of Compound Tenses

Basic Structure

[Conjugated Auxiliary Verb] + [Past Participle of Main Verb]

Examples:

Tenho estudado (I have been studying)
Havia chegado (Had arrived)
Terá terminado (Will have finished)

Auxiliaries Used

TER (more common in Brazil)

Tenho feito (I have done)
Tinha visto (I had seen)
Terei acabado (I will have finished)

HAVER (more formal/literary)

Hei feito (I have done)
Havia visto (I had seen)
Haverei acabado (I will have finished)

Compound Tenses of the Indicative

Present Perfect Compound

Formation: Present of auxiliary + Participle

Person	TER	HAVER	Example (estudar - to study)
I	tenho	hei	tenho/hei estudado
You (sing.)	tens	hás	tens/hás estudado
He/She	tem	há	tem/há estudado
We	temos	havemos	temos/havemos estudado
You (pl.)	tendes	haveis	tendes/haveis estudado
They	têm	hão	têm/hão estudado

Use: Repeated or continuous action up to the present

“Tenho trabalhado muito ultimamente” (I have been working a lot lately)
“Ela tem visitado os pais todos os domingos” (She has been visiting her parents every Sunday)

Past Perfect Compound (Pluperfect)

Formation: Imperfect of auxiliary + Participle

Person	Conjugation	Example
I	tinha/havia	tinha/havia chegado
You (sing.)	tinhas/havias	tinhas/havias chegado
He/She	tinha/havia	tinha/havia chegado
We	tínhamos/havíamos	tínhamos/havíamos chegado
You (pl.)	tínheis/havíeis	tínheis/havíeis chegado
They	tinham/haviam	tinham/haviam chegado

Use: Action prior to another in the past

“Quando cheguei, eles já tinham saído” (When I arrived, they had already left)
“Havia terminado o trabalho antes do prazo” (I had finished the work before the deadline)

Future Perfect

Formation: Simple future of auxiliary + Participle

Person	Conjugation	Example
I	terei/haverei	terei/haverei terminado
You (sing.)	terás/haverás	terás/haverás terminado
He/She	terá/haverá	terá/haverá terminado
We	teremos/haveremos	teremos/haveremos terminado
You (pl.)	tereis/havereis	tereis/havereis terminado
They	terão/haverão	terão/haverão terminado

Use: Future action prior to another

“Quando você chegar, já terei preparado o jantar” (When you arrive, I will have already prepared dinner)
“Até dezembro, haveremos concluído o projeto” (By December, we will have completed the project)

Conditional Perfect

Formation: Conditional of auxiliary + Participle

Person	Conjugation	Example
I	teria/haveria	teria/haveria feito
You (sing.)	terias/haverias	terias/haverias feito
He/She	teria/haveria	teria/haveria feito
We	teríamos/haveríamos	teríamos/haveríamos feito
You (pl.)	teríeis/haveríeis	teríeis/haveríeis feito
They	teriam/haveriam	teriam/haveriam feito

Use: Hypothetical action in the past

“Teria chegado a tempo se não houvesse trânsito” (I would have arrived on time if there hadn’t been traffic)
“Haveríamos vencido com mais preparação” (We would have won with more preparation)

Compound Tenses of the Subjunctive

Present Perfect Subjunctive

Formation: Present subjunctive of auxiliary + Participle

Person	Conjugation	Example
I	tenha/haja	tenha/haja estudado
You (sing.)	tenhas/hajas	tenhas/hajas estudado
He/She	tenha/haja	tenha/haja estudado
We	tenhamos/hajamos	tenhamos/hajamos estudado
You (pl.)	tenhais/hajais	tenhais/hajais estudado
They	tenham/hajam	tenham/hajam estudado

Use: Past action with doubt or hypothesis

“Espero que tenha chegado bem” (I hope you have arrived safely)
“Duvido que hajam terminado o trabalho” (I doubt they have finished the work)

Past Perfect Subjunctive

Formation: Imperfect subjunctive of auxiliary + Participle

Person	Conjugation	Example
I	tivesse/houvesse	tivesse/houvesse visto
You (sing.)	tivesses/houvesses	tivesses/houvesses visto
He/She	tivesse/houvesse	tivesse/houvesse visto
We	tivéssemos/houvéssemos	tivéssemos/houvéssemos visto
You (pl.)	tivésseis/houvésseis	tivésseis/houvésseis visto
They	tivessem/houvessem	tivessem/houvessem visto

Use: Hypothesis in the past

“Se tivesse estudado, teria passado” (If I had studied, I would have passed)
“Caso houvessem chegado cedo, teriam conseguido” (If they had arrived early, they would have succeeded)

Future Perfect Subjunctive

Formation: Future subjunctive of auxiliary + Participle

Person	Conjugation	Example
I	tiver/houver	tiver/houver acabado
You (sing.)	tiveres/houveres	tiveres/houveres acabado
He/She	tiver/houver	tiver/houver acabado
We	tivermos/houvermos	tivermos/houvermos acabado
You (pl.)	tiverdes/houverdes	tiverdes/houverdes acabado
They	tiverem/houverem	tiverem/houverem acabado

Use: Future condition

“Quando tiver terminado, avise-me” (When you have finished, let me know)
“Se houverem compreendido, poderemos continuar” (If they have understood, we can continue)

Compound Nominal Forms

Compound Infinitive

Formation: Infinitive of auxiliary + Participle

Ter/Haver + Participle
Example: “ter falado” (to have spoken), “haver comido” (to have eaten)

Use: Prior action in infinitive clauses

“Depois de ter estudado, foi dormir” (After having studied, he went to sleep)
“Por haver chegado tarde, perdeu a reunião” (For having arrived late, he missed the meeting)

Compound Gerund

Formation: Gerund of auxiliary + Participle

Tendo/Havendo + Participle
Example: “tendo visto” (having seen), “havendo decidido” (having decided)

Use: Prior action in gerund constructions

“Tendo terminado o trabalho, saiu” (Having finished the work, he left)
“Havendo compreendido a lição, prosseguiu” (Having understood the lesson, he continued)

Differences between Simple and Compound Tenses

Temporal Aspect

Simple Tense	Compound Tense
Punctual action	Action with duration
”Estudei ontem” (I studied yesterday)	“Tenho estudado todos os dias” (I have been studying every day)
Finished fact	Present relevance

Perfective Aspect

Compound tenses indicate:

Completion: The action is finished
Result: The effect of the action remains
Anteriority: Temporal relation with another event

Special Uses and Nuances

Present Perfect Compound

Brazil vs. Portugal

Brazil	Portugal
Less frequent	Very common
”Estudei muito este mês"	"Tenho estudado muito este mês”
Preference for simple	Preference for compound

Expression of Continuity

Action started in past and continuous: “Tenho morado aqui há 10 anos” (I have been living here for 10 years)
Repetition until present: “Tem chovido muito” (It has been raining a lot)
Life experience: “Nunca tinha viajado de avião” (I had never traveled by plane)

Compound Tenses with Other Auxiliaries

With SER (Passive Voice)

Present: “tem sido feito” (has been done)
Past: “tinha sido descoberto” (had been discovered)
Future: “terá sido enviado” (will have been sent)

With ESTAR (Progressive Aspect)

“Tenho estado doente” (I have been sick)
“Havia estado trabalhando” (I had been working)
“Terá estado esperando” (He/she will have been waiting)

Common Errors

1. Participle Agreement

❌ “As cartas que tenho escrita” (The letters I have written - wrong agreement) ✅ “As cartas que tenho escrito” (invariable participle with TER/HAVER)

2. Auxiliary Choice

❌ “Sou chegado” (I am arrived - for action) ✅ “Tenho chegado” (I have been arriving - for repeated action)

3. Inadequate Use of Present Perfect

❌ “Tenho ido ao cinema ontem” (I have gone to the cinema yesterday) ✅ “Fui ao cinema ontem” (I went) or “Tenho ido ao cinema ultimamente” (I have been going lately)

Regional Variations

Brazilian Portuguese

Preference for TER over HAVER
Less use of present perfect
Simplification in informal registers

European Portuguese

Balanced use of TER and HAVER
Very frequent present perfect
Maintenance of literary forms

African Portuguese

Influences from local languages
Variations in frequency of use
Contextual adaptations

Practical Applications

In Literature

Compound tenses add:

Temporal depth: Layers of time in narrative
Precision: Exact temporal relations
Style: Variation and elegance

In Formal Communication

Reports: “Temos observado um aumento…” (We have observed an increase…)
Presentations: “Como havíamos mencionado…” (As we had mentioned…)
Correspondence: “Tendo analisado sua proposta…” (Having analyzed your proposal…)

In Journalism

News: “O governo tem implementado…” (The government has been implementing…)
Analysis: “Os indicadores têm mostrado…” (The indicators have been showing…)
Retrospectives: “Havia sido previsto…” (It had been predicted…)

Practice Exercises

Complete with the Appropriate Compound Tense

When you return, I ___ (to finish) the report already.
They ___ (to work) a lot lately.
If I ___ (to study) more, I would have passed.
I hope you ___ (to arrive) safely.

Answers

terei terminado (will have finished)
têm trabalhado (have been working)
tivesse estudado (had studied)
tenha chegado (have arrived)

Conclusion

Compound tenses are essential tools for expressing the temporal and aspectual complexity of actions in Portuguese. Mastering them allows for more precise and sophisticated communication, whether in formal writing or expressing subtle temporal nuances. Understanding when and how to use each compound tense significantly enriches our expressive capacity, allowing us to navigate confidently through the multiple temporal dimensions of the Portuguese language.