My explanation is only slightly less crazy than Dr. Brown’s. Ah… the dreaded Present Perfect. It is the abacaxi of every Portuguese speaker learning English. I’ve seen many good explanations of its use, but textbooks can’t really offer a comparative analysis, as I will do here between English, Spanish and Portuguese, so they just explain it in English and hope that learners make the temporal leap themselves.
Well, the differences between Portuguese and English on this topic eluded me for over 5 years while living in Brazil – probably because, like most people who learn Spanish first, I wrongly believed that Portuguese, being a Latin-based language, would have the same grammar as Spanish. Only after hearing the same verb construction used repeatedly to convey a different temporal idea did I finally realize that I was witnessing a difference in grammar between the languages and not a distortion in the space-time continuum.
The Present Perfect is perhaps “perfect” for Spanish speakers learning English; however, it is anything but perfect for Portuguese speakers. The reason is that, in Spanish, the same verb construction transmits the same idea of time as it does in English. But in Portuguese it doesn’t. Making matters worse is that the same construction exists in Portuguese but transmits a different idea of time. Because of this grammatical mess, I decided to write this blog entry so that you don’t need to spend the next 5 years unraveling this mystery on your own.
In English and Spanish, the Present Perfect is used to refer to a non-specific action in the past which is relevant in the present, hence the name. If I ask the question, “Have you eaten breakfast?” it’s because I want to know if you are hungry now, so that I might then prepare breakfast for you or, more likely, inform you where you can find breakfast yourself. The point is that there’s still time to eat breakfast because the clock hasn’t yet struck noon.
This same question in Spanish would have the same construction of the auxiliary verb have plus the past participle of the verb you wish to use.
have + past participle = haber + participio pasado
“¿Has desayunado?”
In Portuguese, however, we would have to say, “(Você) já tomou café da manhã? because in Portuguese, in order to transmit the same idea of time, one needs to use the Preterite (Simple Past) with the adverb já before it. Já means already.
And the translation for “I haven’t eaten breakfast” would be: “(Eu) não tomei café da manhã ainda.” Ainda means still or yet.
While in Spanish it would be “(Yo) no he desayunado” - just as it is in English.
What we see in Portuguese is the simple past tense with the addition of words in the sentence to help the listener understand the verb tense. So, later in the day (after noon), if one asks, “Did you eat breakfast?” we would simply not add those additional words to the sentence in Portuguese.
“(Você) tomou café da manhã?” without the já.
This simple addition of já in an affirmative sentence or question, and ainda in a negative sentence or question accounts for 94.78% of all occurrences that translate to the present perfect in English. (Note: I have counted every instance over a 15-year span while living in Brazil.)
For the other roughly 5% percent, you’ll learn with time to gain an intuitive sense. Better yet, learn everything by extensive reading, listening and repetition, and you won’t need to worry about grammar at all because you’ll know intuitively what sounds right and what sounds wrong.
For those who like grammar, another way to approach the present perfect for Portuguese speakers is to think of it as the non-specific past. What’s important is the experience, not the specifics of time or space. For example, I could say, “Have you seen the movie Inception?”
The answer I’m looking for is a simple yes or no, i.e. have you experienced it? So, first you answer with that. Then, if you wish, you can use the simple past to give specific information.
“Yes, I have. I saw it a decade ago. You don’t get out much do you, teacher?” Or,
“No, I haven’t. Is it worth watching?”
On a timeline,
past present future
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------> (Timeline)
we could represent the Present Perfect as a non-specific event happening at any time up to the present,
<-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->| (Present Perfect)
whereas the Simple Past would be a specific point in the past, as shown by the X.
<-----------------------X------------------------------------------------------------->| (Simple Past)
Note that you cannot use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Canada, etc. We can use the Present Perfect with non-specific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.
The distinction between the present perfect and the simple past is sometimes not so clear, especially when the above expressions are not included. Also, Americans will tend to be more relaxed than the British when choosing between them.
While a British teacher, upon seeing you in class, may always ask, “Have you done your homework?” an American teacher might ask, “Did you do your homework?” or “Have you done your homework?” because in this instance, the difference is not great.
But there are instances where the difference is significant and both the British and Americans will always use the Present Perfect, such as: “Have you met Bob, the English teacher?”
You could only say, “Did you meet Bob, the English teacher?” if you were referring implicitly to a specific time or place, such as when you were at school or last week. The context would need to be created first.
Now, where things get a bit wacky is when we analyze the same verb construction of have + past participle in Portuguese, or ter/haver + particípio passado. The construction is the same but the meaning is different. (Note: As an auxiliary verb, haver is only used by Brazilians with a penchant for Machado de Assis.)
If I say “Tenho comido muito” in Portuguese, what I’m really saying is “I’ve been eating a lot.” This is the Present Perfect Continuous in English and requires the use of been as a fixed element in the construction have + been + gerund. In Portuguese, a person could also express the same idea by saying, “Venho comendo muito,” which is a bit easier to wrap your head around (understand) because you hear the continuous action of the verb comendo.
The Present Perfect Continuous can be represented as an action that begins at some non-specific point in the past, continues up to the present and will likely continue into the future.
past present future
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------>
By now, you may be sympathizing with me regarding how long it took to realize the difference. Where Spanish and Portuguese in the past parted ways grammatically is beyond me. Maybe a historical linguist could shed some light on this.
The challenge for Portuguese speakers is to disassociate the use of the construction have + past participle from the same construction ter/haver + particípio passado in Portuguese, because the meanings are not the same. Additionally, you’ll need to make the rather incongruent connection between the Present Perfect Continuous, have + been + past participle, and ter/haver + particípio passado in Portuguese.
Please comment below (linguists and non-linguists alike) and check out other tips on learning English.
Well, the differences between Portuguese and English on this topic eluded me for over 5 years while living in Brazil – probably because, like most people who learn Spanish first, I wrongly believed that Portuguese, being a Latin-based language, would have the same grammar as Spanish. Only after hearing the same verb construction used repeatedly to convey a different temporal idea did I finally realize that I was witnessing a difference in grammar between the languages and not a distortion in the space-time continuum.
The Present Perfect is perhaps “perfect” for Spanish speakers learning English; however, it is anything but perfect for Portuguese speakers. The reason is that, in Spanish, the same verb construction transmits the same idea of time as it does in English. But in Portuguese it doesn’t. Making matters worse is that the same construction exists in Portuguese but transmits a different idea of time. Because of this grammatical mess, I decided to write this blog entry so that you don’t need to spend the next 5 years unraveling this mystery on your own.
In English and Spanish, the Present Perfect is used to refer to a non-specific action in the past which is relevant in the present, hence the name. If I ask the question, “Have you eaten breakfast?” it’s because I want to know if you are hungry now, so that I might then prepare breakfast for you or, more likely, inform you where you can find breakfast yourself. The point is that there’s still time to eat breakfast because the clock hasn’t yet struck noon.
This same question in Spanish would have the same construction of the auxiliary verb have plus the past participle of the verb you wish to use.
have + past participle = haber + participio pasado
“¿Has desayunado?”
In Portuguese, however, we would have to say, “(Você) já tomou café da manhã? because in Portuguese, in order to transmit the same idea of time, one needs to use the Preterite (Simple Past) with the adverb já before it. Já means already.
And the translation for “I haven’t eaten breakfast” would be: “(Eu) não tomei café da manhã ainda.” Ainda means still or yet.
While in Spanish it would be “(Yo) no he desayunado” - just as it is in English.
What we see in Portuguese is the simple past tense with the addition of words in the sentence to help the listener understand the verb tense. So, later in the day (after noon), if one asks, “Did you eat breakfast?” we would simply not add those additional words to the sentence in Portuguese.
“(Você) tomou café da manhã?” without the já.
This simple addition of já in an affirmative sentence or question, and ainda in a negative sentence or question accounts for 94.78% of all occurrences that translate to the present perfect in English. (Note: I have counted every instance over a 15-year span while living in Brazil.)
For the other roughly 5% percent, you’ll learn with time to gain an intuitive sense. Better yet, learn everything by extensive reading, listening and repetition, and you won’t need to worry about grammar at all because you’ll know intuitively what sounds right and what sounds wrong.
For those who like grammar, another way to approach the present perfect for Portuguese speakers is to think of it as the non-specific past. What’s important is the experience, not the specifics of time or space. For example, I could say, “Have you seen the movie Inception?”
The answer I’m looking for is a simple yes or no, i.e. have you experienced it? So, first you answer with that. Then, if you wish, you can use the simple past to give specific information.
“Yes, I have. I saw it a decade ago. You don’t get out much do you, teacher?” Or,
“No, I haven’t. Is it worth watching?”
On a timeline,
past present future
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------> (Timeline)
we could represent the Present Perfect as a non-specific event happening at any time up to the present,
<-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->| (Present Perfect)
whereas the Simple Past would be a specific point in the past, as shown by the X.
<-----------------------X------------------------------------------------------------->| (Simple Past)
Note that you cannot use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Canada, etc. We can use the Present Perfect with non-specific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.
The distinction between the present perfect and the simple past is sometimes not so clear, especially when the above expressions are not included. Also, Americans will tend to be more relaxed than the British when choosing between them.
While a British teacher, upon seeing you in class, may always ask, “Have you done your homework?” an American teacher might ask, “Did you do your homework?” or “Have you done your homework?” because in this instance, the difference is not great.
But there are instances where the difference is significant and both the British and Americans will always use the Present Perfect, such as: “Have you met Bob, the English teacher?”
You could only say, “Did you meet Bob, the English teacher?” if you were referring implicitly to a specific time or place, such as when you were at school or last week. The context would need to be created first.
Now, where things get a bit wacky is when we analyze the same verb construction of have + past participle in Portuguese, or ter/haver + particípio passado. The construction is the same but the meaning is different. (Note: As an auxiliary verb, haver is only used by Brazilians with a penchant for Machado de Assis.)
If I say “Tenho comido muito” in Portuguese, what I’m really saying is “I’ve been eating a lot.” This is the Present Perfect Continuous in English and requires the use of been as a fixed element in the construction have + been + gerund. In Portuguese, a person could also express the same idea by saying, “Venho comendo muito,” which is a bit easier to wrap your head around (understand) because you hear the continuous action of the verb comendo.
The Present Perfect Continuous can be represented as an action that begins at some non-specific point in the past, continues up to the present and will likely continue into the future.
past present future
<---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------>
By now, you may be sympathizing with me regarding how long it took to realize the difference. Where Spanish and Portuguese in the past parted ways grammatically is beyond me. Maybe a historical linguist could shed some light on this.
The challenge for Portuguese speakers is to disassociate the use of the construction have + past participle from the same construction ter/haver + particípio passado in Portuguese, because the meanings are not the same. Additionally, you’ll need to make the rather incongruent connection between the Present Perfect Continuous, have + been + past participle, and ter/haver + particípio passado in Portuguese.
Please comment below (linguists and non-linguists alike) and check out other tips on learning English.
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