Breakdown of O consumidor tem vindo a pagar uma percentagem absurda.
ter
to have
um
a / an / some (all forms)
a
to / at (direction)
pagar
to pay
vir
to come
absurdo
absurd
a percentagem
the percentage
o consumidor
the consumer
Questions & Answers about O consumidor tem vindo a pagar uma percentagem absurda.
How does tem vindo a pagar differ from the regular present perfect tem pago?
Tem vindo a pagar uses the structure ter vindo a + infinitive to emphasize an ongoing, cumulative, or repeated action that started in the past and continues up to the present. While the regular present perfect can also imply recent repeated actions, adding vindo a strongly maps to the English continuous 'has been paying' and puts the focus on the progressive nature of the cost.
Why is the word for percentage spelled percentagem here?
Percentagem is the standard spelling and pronunciation in European Portuguese. You might recognize porcentagem from Brazilian Portuguese materials, but in Portugal, you should always use percentagem.
In the phrase tem vindo a pagar, why doesn't vindo change its ending to agree with the feminine noun percentagem?
In this structure, vindo is the past participle of vir acting as part of the compound verb. When forming perfect tenses with the auxiliary verb ter, the past participle never changes to agree with the subject or the object; it stays in the default masculine singular form.
Could I use the gerund instead of a + infinitive to show the continuous action, like tem vindo pagando?
In European Portuguese, continuous actions are almost exclusively expressed with the preposition a + infinitive. Therefore, tem vindo a pagar is the natural phrasing in Portugal, whereas using the gerund here would sound distinctly Brazilian.
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