Breakdown of O porta-voz explicou que tinha escrito a declaração durante a manhã.
ter
to have
a manhã
the morning
escrever
to write
explicar
to explain
Questions & Answers about O porta-voz explicou que tinha escrito a declaração durante a manhã.
Why is the verb tinha escrito used here instead of just escreveu?
This is an example of reported speech. The spokesperson's original, direct words were likely "I wrote the statement" (escrevi a declaração), using the simple past. Because the reporting verb (explicou) is in the past, we have to "backshift" his original words further into the past. The simple past escrevi shifts back one step to become the past perfect (tinha escrito), meaning "had written".
Why is the past participle escrito instead of "escrevido"?
The verb escrever (to write) has a completely irregular past participle. You just have to memorize that it becomes escrito. To form the past perfect tense here, we pair the imperfect form of ter (tinha) with this irregular participle.
The word for spokesperson is o porta-voz. How would I say this if the spokesperson were a woman?
You would simply say a porta-voz. It is a compound word made from porta (from the verb portar, meaning to carry or bear) and voz (voice). The noun itself doesn't change endings based on gender; you only change the article (o or a) in front of it.
Could I say na manhã instead of durante a manhã to mean "in the morning"?