I. Formation of the past participle

The past participle (participio passado) is a conjugation mode that gives a verb the characteristics of an adjective. It is formed from the root of the infinitive verb:

* For verbs of the first group, ending in -AR, the ending is -ado.

CANTAR (to sing) ==> Cantado ; AMAR (to love) ==> Amado ; CAMINAR (to walk) ==> Caminado

* For verbs of the second and third groups, ending in -ER and -IR, the ending of the past participle is -ido.

VENDER (to sell) ==> Vendido ; COMER (to eat) ==> Comido ; VIVIR (to live) ==> Vivido

II. Irregular past participles

Some verbs have an irregular past participle. Here are the most common ones:

– ESCRIBIR (to write) ==> Escrito
– CUBRIR (to cover) ==> Cubierto
– VOLVER (to come back) ==> Vuelto
– HACER (to do) ==> Hecho
– MORIR (to die) ==> Muerto
– SATISFACER (to satisfy) ==> Satisfecho
– LEER (to read) ==> Leído
– VER (to see) ==> Visto
– DECIR (to tell) ==> Dicho
– PONER (to put) ==> Puesto
– DESCRIBIR (to describe) ==> Descrito

In addition, some verbs have two past participles. The first one, regular, is used with the auxiliary HABER. The second, irregular, is used with other verbs such as TENER or ESTAR…

– HARTAR (to be tired) ==> Hartado (Regular past participle) ==> Harto (Irregular past participle)
– SOLTAR (to let go/untie) ==> Soltado (Regular) ==> Suelto (Irregular)
– OPRIMIR (to oppress) ==> Oprimido (Regular) ==> Opreso (Irregular)
– FREIR (to fry) ==> Freído (Regular) ==> Frito (Irregular)
– ROMPER (to break) ==> Rompido (Regular) ==> Roto (Irregular)
– IMPRIMIR (to print)==> Imprimido (Regular) ==> Impreso (Irregular)

Example :

– Tu hermano ha rompido el cristal ==> Your brother broke the glass.
– El cristal está roto ==> The window is broken.

III. Use of the past participle

* The past participle has the value of an adjective when used with SER or ESTAR. As an adjective, it agrees in gender and number with the subject to which it is attached.

– La mujer esta despierta ==> The woman is awake.
– El restaurante está abierto ==> The restaurant is open.
– Los invitados están sentados en las sillas ==> The guests are sitting on the chairs.

* The past participle is used with the auxiliary HABER to form compound tenses like the past compound or the future tense: HABER + Past Participle (always invariable)

– El niño ha cantado una canción ==> the child sang a song.
– El próximo año, habré estudiado el español por 6 años ==> Next year I will have studied Spanish for 6 years.

* The past participle can be used as a preposition or conjunction with the words: Dado (que), visto que, debido a, etc.

Debido a la pandemia, las autoridades instauraron el confinamiento ==> Due to the pandemic, the authorities instituted the confinement.

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