Breakdown of O filme tem sido muito visto.
ser
to be
muito
much / very
ter
to have
ver
to see
o filme
the movie
Questions & Answers about O filme tem sido muito visto.
Why does this use tem sido instead of foi if the translation is "has been"?
In Portuguese, the structure tem + past participle (like tem sido) describes an action that started in the past and is still happening repeatedly or continuously up to the present. If the film was watched a lot in the past but is not anymore, you would just use the simple past foi (was). Here, tem sido implies people have been watching it a lot lately and continue to do so.
Wait, sido is the past participle of ser, and visto is the past participle of ver. Why are there two past participles?
This sentence is in the passive voice. The active version would be "People have watched the film" (As pessoas têm visto o filme). To make it passive ("The film has been watched"), you use the continuous "has been" (tem sido) followed by the main action's past participle (visto).
I thought "to watch" was assistir. Why does this sentence use visto (from ver)?
In European Portuguese, the verb ver (to see) is the most natural and common way to talk about watching films, TV shows, or plays. While you can use assistir (which usually requires the preposition a for watching), ver is much more typical in everyday conversation in Portugal.
Learn O filme tem sido muito visto 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