Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Ultimamente tenho estudado português todas as manhãs. - Lately I have been studying Portuguese every morning.

Estudo português todas as manhãs.
= I study Portuguese every morning.
→ A neutral, simple present. It states a regular habit.
Tenho estudado português todas as manhãs.
= Lately I have been studying Portuguese every morning.
→ Emphasises:
- the idea of recentness (connected with ultimamente = lately), and
- a repeated activity over a recent period, not just a timeless habit.

So tenho estudado (present perfect) ties the repeated habit to a period up to now, much like English “have been studying”, while estudo just states a routine.

Is tenho estudado the same as the English “I have been studying”?

It’s close, but not identical in usage:

In European Portuguese, tenho estudado (pretérito perfeito composto) usually describes an action that is:
- repeated or habitual,
- started in the past, and
- continues up to the present.
Example:
- Tenho estudado português todas as manhãs.
  → You repeatedly study in those mornings.
It is not normally used for a single continuous action from the past until now, where English would use “have been …”.
- English: I have been living in Lisbon since 2020.
- European Portuguese: more natural is Vivo em Lisboa desde 2020., not Tenho vivido em Lisboa desde 2020.

So here, because studying “every morning” is a repeated action, tenho estudado lines up very well with English “have been studying.”

How is tenho estudado formed grammatically?

It’s the present perfect (pretérito perfeito composto):

ter in the present tense
- past participle of the main verb

In this sentence:

ter → tenho (1st person singular, present)
estudar → estudado (past participle)

Other persons:

tens estudado – you have been studying
tem estudado – he/she has been studying
temos estudado – we have been studying
têm estudado – they/you (plural) have been studying

Notice that in this use, the participle does not change for gender or number: it stays estudado, not estudada/estudados/estudadas.

Could I also say Ultimamente estudo português todas as manhãs? What’s the difference?

Yes, it’s correct, but the nuance changes:

Ultimamente estudo português todas as manhãs.
→ Sounds like a habit that currently exists, with a light suggestion of “recently”, but it’s closer to a simple fact.
Ultimamente tenho estudado português todas as manhãs.
→ Puts more focus on:
- the ongoing nature of this recent period of study, and
- the idea that it’s a noticeable pattern throughout this recent time.

If you want to sound most like English “Lately I’ve been studying…”, tenho estudado fits better.

In Portugal, would people also say ando a estudar português todas as manhãs or estou a estudar português in this context?

Both exist, but they are used differently:

Ando a estudar português todas as manhãs.
→ Very natural in European Portuguese.
→ Means something like “I’ve been going around studying / I’ve been in the habit of studying”.
→ Similar nuance to tenho estudado, stressing an on‑going phase or trend.
Estou a estudar português.
→ Usually refers to what you are doing now, or currently in general, not so much the repeated “every morning” idea.
→ More like “I’m studying Portuguese (these days / right now in my life)” without specifying the mornings.

For “lately, every morning”, tenho estudado or ando a estudar are more precise than estou a estudar.

Why is português not capitalised here? In English we write Portuguese with a capital letter.

In Portuguese:

Languages are written with lowercase:
- português, inglês, alemão, francês, espanhol, etc.
Nationality adjectives are also lowercase:
- um estudante português, uma professora inglesa.

Capitals are normally used for country names, city names, etc.:

Portugal, Brasil, Inglaterra, Lisboa, Porto.

So português (the language) is correctly written with a lowercase p.

Why is there no article before português? Why not o português?

Both are possible, but there is a subtle difference:

Estudar português
→ Very common when referring to the language you are learning, especially in contexts like school subjects or general study.
→ Similar to English “study maths, study biology”.
Estudar o português
→ Also correct, but it can sound a bit more specific or emphatic, like “study the Portuguese language” (perhaps in a more academic or contrastive context).

In everyday speech about learning the language, estudar português (no article) is the most natural.

Why is it todas as manhãs and not todas manhãs?

In Portuguese, when you use todo/toda/todos/todas to mean “every / all (the)” with a noun, you normally:

Match gender and number with the noun, and
Use the definite article.

Here:

manhã is feminine singular → a manhã
plural: as manhãs
todas (feminine plural) + as (feminine plural article) + manhãs (feminine plural)
→ todas as manhãs = every morning / all the mornings (in general)

Todas manhãs without the article sounds wrong in standard Portuguese. The article as is required.

What’s the difference between todas as manhãs, todas as manhã, and toda a manhã?

Only todas as manhãs and toda a manhã are grammatical; todas as manhã is wrong because the noun and article must also be plural.

todas as manhãs
- plural
- = every morning (each individual morning)
- repeated events:
  - Ultimamente tenho estudado português todas as manhãs.
    → Most natural here.
toda a manhã
- singular
- = the whole morning
- duration within a single day:
  - Hoje estudei português toda a manhã.
    → Today I studied Portuguese the whole morning.

So:

todas as manhãs → how often (frequency, many days)
toda a manhã → how long within one morning (duration).

Why is it manhãs with -nh- and a tilde (ã)? How is it pronounced?

Spelling and pronunciation:

nh in Portuguese is a single sound, similar to the “ny” in English “canyon”.
ã (a with tilde) is a nasal vowel; you let air resonate through your nose.

Manhãs is roughly:

[mɐˈɲɐ̃ʃ] (European Portuguese)
Approximate to English: muh-NYUHSH (in one smooth word).

Key points:

Don’t pronounce the nh as “n-h” separately; it’s one sound, like in “España” in Spanish.
The final -s in European Portuguese often sounds like sh [ʃ] when at the end of a word after a vowel, as in manhãs.

Could I say Ultimamente tenho estudado português às manhãs instead of todas as manhãs?

No, às manhãs is not idiomatic here.

às is a contraction of a + as, often used with clock times or certain temporal expressions:
- às 9 horas – at 9 o’clock
- às segundas-feiras – on Mondays

But:

às manhãs is not a natural expression in Portuguese.
To say “every morning”, you ordinarily use:
- todas as manhãs, or
- de manhã, if you just mean “in the mornings / in the morning (generally)”.

So the good options are:

Ultimamente tenho estudado português todas as manhãs.
Ultimamente tenho estudado português de manhã. (less specific, but common)

Can ultimamente go in another position in the sentence?

Yes. Common positions include:

At the beginning (as in your sentence):
- Ultimamente tenho estudado português todas as manhãs.
After the auxiliary verb:
- Tenho ultimamente estudado português todas as manhãs.
  → Grammatically correct but sounds a bit more formal or marked.
At the end:
- Tenho estudado português todas as manhãs ultimamente.
  → Also possible; puts a slight emphasis on “lately”.

All three are understandable. The most natural, neutral option is usually at the beginning or at the end. Your original version is very typical.

Do I need a comma after Ultimamente?

No comma is needed, and native speakers normally do not use one here:

Ultimamente tenho estudado português todas as manhãs. ✅

A comma would not be strictly wrong, but it would look unusual and unnecessary in such a short, simple introductory adverb.