Breakdown of Avalio sempre tudo, mesmo que a comida tenha sido excecional.
ser
to be
ter
to have
sempre
always
a comida
the food
mesmo
same
tudo
everything
que
that (conjunction)
avaliar
to evaluate
excecional
exceptional
Questions & Answers about Avalio sempre tudo, mesmo que a comida tenha sido excecional.
Why do we use tenha sido here instead of the normal past tense like foi?
The phrase mesmo que (even if) is a trigger that always forces us to use the subjunctive mood. Since being exceptional happened in the past, we need the compound past subjunctive form that you are learning in this lesson. It is built using the present subjunctive of ter (tenha) plus the past participle of ser (sido).
Can I use embora instead of mesmo que?
Yes, absolutely. Both embora (although) and mesmo que (even if or even though) trigger the subjunctive mood. Saying embora a comida tenha sido excecional would mean the exact same thing in this sentence.
I remember that ser and ir share past tense verbs. Is sido used for both?
No, that is only true for the simple past tense, where both verbs use fui, foi, and so on. For the past participle used in compound tenses like this one, they have different forms. The participle for ser (to be) is sido, and the participle for ir (to go) is ido. Here, the food was exceptional, so we use sido.
Why is excecional spelled without a p? I often see it spelled as excepcional.
In European Portuguese, a modern spelling reform removed most silent consonants. Because the p in the older spelling was not pronounced in Portugal, it was dropped to become excecional. You will still see the p in Brazilian Portuguese.
Learn Avalio sempre tudo, mesmo que a comida tenha sido excecional and more in Portuguese
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free