Question 1

Why is tinha abandonado used here instead of just abandonou?

Accepted Answer

tinha abandonado is the compound past perfect tense. We use it because the crowd abandoning the hall happened before another completed action in the past (when you saw him). It is formed with the imperfect tense of ter (tinha) plus the past participle (abandonado).

Question 2

Why is the pronoun before the verb in Quando o vi instead of attached to the end (Quando vi-o)?

Accepted Answer

The word Quando acts as a magnet in European Portuguese. Subordinating conjunctions like Quando, Que, and Se always pull object pronouns like o directly in front of the verb.

Question 3

Where should I place adverbs like já when using this two-part past tense?

Accepted Answer

Adverbs like já (already) typically go right before the auxiliary verb (tinha). Unlike English, where we often split the verbs (had already abandoned), in Portuguese you usually keep the two verbs tinha abandonado together.

Question 4

Since a multidão implies a lot of people, could I use the plural verb tinham?

Accepted Answer

No, you must use the singular tinha. Even though a multidão (the crowd) represents many people, it is grammatically a singular feminine noun, so its matching verb must also be singular.

Quando o vi, a multidão já tinha abandonado o salão.

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