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Tenho lido muitas páginas desde a madrugada.

Tenho lido muitas páginas desde a madrugada.
I have been reading many pages since dawn.
FromLesson 30inHardcore Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of Tenho lido muitas páginas desde a madrugada.

ter
to have
ler
to read
muito
many
a madrugada
the dawn
a página
the page
desde
since

Questions & Answers about Tenho lido muitas páginas desde a madrugada.

What tense is tenho lido, and how would you translate it into English?
tenho lido is the Portuguese present perfect compound (pretérito perfeito composto), formed by the present of ter + past participle. It expresses an action that started in the past and continues or repeats up to now. In English you can render it as I have read many pages, but given the ongoing sense here a more natural translation is I have been reading many pages.
How does tenho lido differ from estou a ler?
tenho lido emphasizes an activity that’s been going on continuously or repeatedly since a point in the past (here, dawn). estou a ler simply states that you are reading right now, without implying a long time span.
What does desde a madrugada mean? Can we just say de madrugada?
  • desde a madrugada = since dawn (marks the starting point of the action).
  • de madrugada = at dawn or in the early morning (describes when something happens, not “since”).
    To say “I’ve been reading since dawn,” you need desde a madrugada (with the definite article).
Why do we say muitas páginas? Can you use muito páginas or muitos páginas?

In Portuguese, adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun.

  • página is feminine; páginas is feminine plural.
  • You need muitas (feminine plural).
    muito (masculine singular), muita (feminine singular) or muitos (masculine plural) would be incorrect here.
What exactly is madrugada? How is it different from manhã?
  • madrugada covers the very early hours between midnight and sunrise (roughly 0 AM–6 AM).
  • manhã runs from sunrise until around noon.
    So desde a madrugada means you started reading before the sun came up.
Why is there no subject pronoun eu? Who is doing the reading?
Portuguese is a “pro-drop” language: the verb ending -o in tenho already indicates first person singular (“I”). The subject eu is understood and normally omitted.
Could we use the simple past with li instead of tenho lido?
You could say li muitas páginas (“I read many pages”), but that suggests a completed action at a specific time. To stress that the reading has been continuous or repeated from dawn until now, the present perfect tenho lido is more appropriate.
How do you pronounce Tenho lido muitas páginas desde a madrugada?

European Portuguese approximate pronunciation:

  • tenho /ˈteɲu/
  • lido /ˈlidu/
  • muitas /ˈmujtɐʃ/
  • páginas /ˈpaɣinɐʃ/
  • desde /ˈdeʒ(ɨ)/
  • a /ɐ/
  • madrugada /ma.dɾuˈɣaðɐ/
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