Question 1

Why do we use tinha mostrado instead of just mostrou here?

Accepted Answer

Because this is reported speech in the past. The original direct quote would have been 'A reportagem mostrou...' (The report showed...). Since the reporting verb anunciaram (announced) is in the past, the original action is pushed one step further back into the past. This changes the simple past tense (mostrou) into the compound past perfect (tinha mostrado).

Question 2

Is mostrado a regular past participle?

Accepted Answer

Yes, mostrado is the regular past participle of mostrar (to show). Unlike some verbs that have short irregular participles, mostrar only uses this regular -ado form when building compound tenses like the past perfect seen here.

Question 3

Why is there an o between todo and acontecimento?

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese, when you want to say 'the whole' or 'the entire' of a specific thing, you use todo (or toda) followed by the definite article (o or a). So, todo o acontecimento means 'the whole event'. If you left out the o, todo acontecimento would change meaning to 'every event' in a general sense.

Question 4

Could I translate 'the report' as o relatório instead of a reportagem?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the context, but they are not interchangeable. A reportagem specifically refers to a news report or journalistic piece, like you would see on TV or in a newspaper. O relatório is a formal, often written document, like a business, medical, or scientific report.

Eles anunciaram que a reportagem tinha mostrado todo o acontecimento.

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