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O padrasto repreendeu o miúdo, porque ele tinha sido muito rebelde.

O padrasto repreendeu o miúdo, porque ele tinha sido muito rebelde.
The stepfather reprimanded the kid, because he had been very rebellious.
From Lesson 324:Past influence and emotion (queria que tivesse)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about O padrasto repreendeu o miúdo, porque ele tinha sido muito rebelde.

Why is tinha sido in the indicative here instead of the subjunctive (tivesse sido), given the current lesson topic?
Even though repreendeu (reprimanded) expresses emotion or influence, the clause is introduced by porque (because). The word porque introduces a factual reason and always takes the indicative. To trigger the subjunctive, we would need a clause introduced by que, such as in O padrasto lamentou que ele tivesse sido rebelde (The stepfather regretted that he had been rebellious).
Is miúdo considered slang for child?
It is informal but completely standard. In Portugal, miúdo (masculine) or miúda (feminine) is the everyday equivalent of the English word kid. It is the most natural way people refer to children in daily conversation, whereas criança sounds slightly more clinical or formal.
Why do we use a form of ser (tinha sido) instead of estar (tinha estado) if the rebellious behavior was just the reason for this specific reprimand?
While English might treat acting rebellious as a temporary state in this context, Portuguese strongly associates rebelde with a core personality trait. Adjectives describing intrinsic characteristics almost always trigger ser, even when you are discussing how someone acted during a specific, limited timeframe in the past.
Could I use the simple past perfect (fora) instead of the compound form (tinha sido)?
Grammatically, yes, you could say porque ele fora muito rebelde. However, the simple past perfect is mostly restricted to literature, journalism, and highly formal texts. For a B2 learner aiming for natural spoken or written communication, sticking to the compound form with tinha is always the correct choice.

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