Breakdown of Os bilhetes têm sido vendidos depressa.
ser
to be
ter
to have
o bilhete
the ticket
vender
to sell
depressa
quickly, fast
Questions & Answers about Os bilhetes têm sido vendidos depressa.
Why does the translation say 'have been selling' when the Portuguese sentence uses a passive structure?
In English, we often say things like 'the tickets are selling' as if they are doing the action themselves. Portuguese prefers to be literal here: the tickets are being sold by someone. So, it uses the passive voice: têm sido vendidos (have been sold).
Why does têm sido vendidos imply an ongoing action?
In Portuguese, the present perfect tense (made with the present tense of ter plus a past participle) specifically describes an action that started in the past and keeps repeating or continuing up to now. So, têm sido gives that continuous meaning that we usually express in English with 'have been doing'.
Why does vendidos have an -os at the end?
In regular compound tenses formed only with ter, the past participle doesn't change. However, this sentence is in the passive voice and uses a form of the verb ser (sido). When a past participle follows ser, it acts like an adjective and must match the subject in gender and number. Since Os bilhetes is masculine plural, it becomes vendidos.
What is the difference between tem and têm?
The circumflex accent on têm shows that the verb is plural, matching Os bilhetes (they). Tem without the accent is the singular form (he/she/it). In Portugal, the plural têm is pronounced with a slightly longer, more stretched nasal sound than the singular tem.
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