Breakdown of Nós tínhamos suspendido a burocracia.
nós
we
ter
to have
a burocracia
the bureaucracy
suspender
to suspend
Questions & Answers about Nós tínhamos suspendido a burocracia.
Why do we use suspendido here instead of suspenso?
Suspender is a verb with a double past participle. It has a regular form (suspendido) and a short, irregular form (suspenso). The rule is to use the regular form after the auxiliary verbs ter and haver. Since we are using tínhamos (from ter), we must use suspendido.
When would I use the short form suspenso?
You use the short, irregular form (suspenso) when the auxiliary verb is ser or estar. This happens in the passive voice or when using it as an adjective. For example, if you wanted to say 'The bureaucracy was suspended,' you would use ser and say 'A burocracia foi suspensa.' Notice how the participle changes ending to match the feminine word burocracia in that situation!
What tense is tínhamos suspendido and how is it formed?
This is the past perfect (meaning 'we had suspended'). It is built by taking the imperfect tense of the auxiliary verb ter (which gives us tínhamos) and adding the past participle of the main verb (suspendido). You use this tense to talk about an action that was completed before another action in the past.
Is the word burocracia pronounced similarly to English?