Repeated actions with ter + past participle

In brief

In Brazilian Portuguese, tenho feito describes something you have been doing repeatedly or over a period that continues up to now. It does not automatically mean English ‘I have done’ for a single completed event. Think ‘I have been doing’ when the activity has kept happening recently.

Form

Present tense of ter (tenho, tem, temos, têm) + past participle: tenho estudado, ela tem feito. With ter, the participle does not change to match the subject.

Usage

• Use it for actions repeated during an ongoing period: tenho estudado todas as noites.
• Use it for an activity continuing recently, often with ultimamente or nos últimos dias.

Examples

• Tenho estudado português quase todos os dias. — I’ve been studying Portuguese almost every day.
• Ela tem trabalhado de casa ultimamente. — She’s been working from home lately.
• Temos visitado meus pais com frequência. — We’ve been visiting my parents often.

Common mistake

❌ Tenho fazido exercícios ultimamente.

✅ Tenho feito exercícios ultimamente.

The past participle of fazer is feito, not fazido. This sentence means ‘I’ve been exercising lately.’

Remember

For repeated recent activity, tenho feito often matches ‘I’ve been doing’ better than ‘I’ve done.’