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Past
participle
The past participle indicates an action already
done. Most of English past participles are
regular (you just add '-ed' to the infinitive: 'walked', 'smiled', 'watched',
etc.), but some of them are irregular ('written', 'done', 'sung', etc.) In
Spanish, the situation is almost the same.
* Regular past
participles
1. If the verb ends in
'-AR', you add '-ADO' to the stem. Examples:
INFINITIVE --> PAST
PARTICIPLE
cantar -->
cantado
estar -->
estado
bailar -->
bailado
2. If the verb ends in
'-ER' or '-IR', you add '-IDO' to the stem. Examples:
INFINITIVE --> PAST
PARTICIPLE
correr -->
corrido
deber -->
debido
vivir -->
vivido
salir -->
salido
3. When the stem of some
'-ER' and '-IR' verbs ends in a vocal, you need to add an accent mark:
INFINITIVE --> PAST
PARTICIPLE
creer -->
creído
leer -->
leído
oir --> oído
* Irregular past
participles
Most of the irregular past participles share some simmilarities: for
example, most of them end in '-TO'. But they are also unique, so the only
way to learn them is to memorize them. Here are some of the most frequently
used:
INFINITIVE --> PAST
PARTICIPLE
abrir-->
abierto
decir -->
dicho
escribir -->
escrito
hacer -->
hecho
morir -->
muerto
poner -->
puesto
romper -->
roto
ver --> visto
* Use of the past
participle
The past participle can be used as an ADJECTIVE ('The chair
is broken') or as part of the PERFECT TENSES ('She has
broken the chair': here the verb is composed by two words: 'has
broken', and the tense is present perfect indicative).
1. If you use the past
participle as an ADJECTIVE, it has to agree in gender and number with the
corresponding noun. Examples:
Feminine, singular: 'La silla está rota' (= The
chair is broken.)
Feminine, plural: 'Las sillas están rotas' (=
The chairs are broken.)
Masculine, singular: 'Ese libro es leído por mucha
gente' (= That book is read by a lot of people.)
Masculine, plural: 'Esos libros son leídos por
mucha gente' (= Those books are read by a lot of people.)
2. If you use the past
participle as part of a PERFECT TENSE, it doesn't agree with the subject and its
form is always masculine and singular. Examples:
'Ellos han leído muchos libros' (= They have read many
books.)
'Ella ha roto la silla' (= She has broken the
chair.)
If you want to know how to form and use the
PERFECT TENSES, click here.
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