Breakdown of O problema não se tem vindo a agravar.
não
not / no
ter
to have
o problema
the problem
a
to / at (direction)
vir
to come
agravar-se
to worsen
Questions & Answers about O problema não se tem vindo a agravar.
How exactly does tem vindo a agravar mean "has been worsening"?
This uses a special verb phrase: ter (conjugated) + vindo + a + infinitive. This structure is used to describe a continuous or repeated action that started in the past and has been steadily building up or accumulating right up to the present. It is the perfect equivalent to the English present perfect continuous ("has been doing").
Why is the pronoun se placed all the way before the first auxiliary verb instead of being attached to agravar?
Why is this verb reflexive (agravar-se)? Couldn't I just say O problema não tem vindo a agravar?
In Portuguese, agravar is naturally a transitive verb, meaning it needs a direct object (to make something else worse, e.g., "The rain worsened the traffic"). When something just gets worse on its own—like the problem in this sentence—you have to use the reflexive form agravar-se (literally, "to worsen itself").
Could I use the gerund here and say tem vindo agravando?
While you will hear the gerund (agravando) used this way in Brazilian Portuguese and in certain southern regions of Portugal (like the Alentejo and Algarve), the standard European Portuguese form uses a + infinitive (a agravar). At this level, it's best to stick to a + infinitive for standard PT-PT.
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