Breakdown of As provisões têm vindo a escassear no deserto.
ter
to have
em
in / on / at
a
to / at (direction)
o
him/it (m)
vir
to come
a provisão
the provision
escassear
to become scarce
o deserto
the desert
Questions & Answers about As provisões têm vindo a escassear no deserto.
Why use têm vindo a escassear instead of just the Present Perfect têm escasseado?
The structure ter vindo a + infinitive emphasizes that an action has been happening continuously and gradually over a period of time up to the present. While têm escasseado implies a repeated action that started in the past and continues, têm vindo a escassear strongly highlights the ongoing, progressive nature of the situation—the provisions have been becoming scarce.
Is escassear related to the adjective escasso?
Could I use the gerund here and say têm vindo escasseando?
In European Portuguese, the standard way to form continuous tenses is with the preposition a + infinitive, making têm vindo a escassear the correct and most natural choice. Using the gerund (escasseando) is standard in Brazilian Portuguese, but in Portugal, it is generally only heard in specific regional dialects, such as in the Alentejo.
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