Understanding the Past Perfect Continuous Tense in Português
The Past Perfect Continuous Tense in Português is used to describe actions that were ongoing in the past and were finished before another past action. It helps us tell stories about what was happening over a period of time before something else happened.
Important Points
- It is used to show an action that was happening over time in the past.
- It often uses words like 'for' or 'since' to show how long the action was happening.
- It is usually used with another past action to show what was happening before.
To form the Past Perfect Continuous Tense in Português, we use the verb 'ter' in the imperfect tense, followed by the past participle of the main verb, and then add '-ndo' to the main verb.
Examples
- Ela tinha estado estudando por horas antes de dormir.
- Nós tínhamos estado jogando futebol antes de começar a chover.
- Eles tinham estado trabalhando no projeto antes do prazo final.
These examples show how we talk about actions that were ongoing in the past and finished before another past action. The words 'tinha', 'tínhamos', and 'tinham' are forms of the verb 'ter', which help us create this tense.