The object of the present work is to provide a description of the aspectuality of the Pretérito Perfeito Composto (PPC) in Brazilian Portuguese and highlight the importance of this verb tense in the field of Portuguese as a Second Language (PL2). On the basis of a functionalist theoretical and methodological apparatus, the semantic-pragmatic and syntactic behavior of forty-two predications with this verbal periphrasis is analyzed. Through the conjugation of semantic, pragmatic, and syntactic information, it is verified that a same verbal predicator, due to the configuration of its nuclear arguments and their relations in the context they occur, can promote distinct aspectualities. Moreover, the interference of non-nuclear arguments (satellites) in the aspectuality of the predications using the PPC is also noted. Consequently, it is observed that the semantic information inherent to a verbal lexeme (i.e. its Aktionsart/Mode of Action), as well as the information related to grammatical aspect (i.e. its Aspekt/Aspect) are not sufficient to determine the aspectuality of predications in the PPC: the use of an atelic predicator in the PPC, for instance, does not promote a solely and exclusively durative aspectuality. In the light of these findings, among others, a framework for the aspectuality of the PPC is designed, based on a set of semantic-aspectual parameters. Therefore, this present work offers some resources for professionals in the field of PL2, who frequently deal with the teaching of this verb tense to non-speakers of Portuguese.