How to use past participles in Spanish?

As you have come to expect, there are irregular past participles in Spanish (just as in English). Generally, they end in -to, -cho, and sometimes -so. Below are some examples for the main groups and you can find a more complete list of irregular Spanish participles here.

• -to irregulars

  • cubrir → cubierto ("covered")

    • This includes any verb that has “-cubrir" as part of it, for example: descubrir → descubierto ("discovered, uncovered")

  • poner → puesto ("placed, put, set")

    • disponer → dispuestoThis includes any verb that has “-poner" as part of it, for example: disponer → dispuesto ("disposed, prepared")

• -cho irregulars

  • hacer → hecho ("made, done")

    • This includes any verb that has “-hacer" as part of it, for example: deshacer → deshecho ("unmade, undone")

  • decir → dicho ("said, spoken")

    • This includes any verb that has “-decir" as part of it, for example: predecir → predicho ("predicted")

    Exception!

    Bendecir ("to bless") and maldecir ("to curse") use the regular “-ido” ending when forming verbs: bendecido, maldecido; and end in “-to” when used as adjectives: bendito, maldito ("blessed, cursed").

    Keep reading to learn more about verbs with two participle forms!

To make things a little spicier, we have a group of verbs in Spanish that have two participle forms: a regular and an irregular. What’s the difference, you ask? The regular forms are used to build verbs (see below) and the irregular forms are used as adjectives.

One of the most common uses of past participles is to build perfect tenses in Spanish. Remember perfect tenses are made up of two parts:

In Spanish, we have a few perfect tenses, as you have seen in other posts: present perfect, future perfect, conditional perfect, etc. The auxiliary verb, haber, will change depending on the tense you are building, but the past participle will always remain the same. Remember, if you are working with a verb that has two participles, use the regular form to build perfect tenses. For example:

• Los ciudadanos han elegido a la nueva gobernadora.

  The citizens have elected the new governor.

Another really cool way to use past participles is as adjectives. Here, however, they have some additional special rules or things to keep in mind:

• They have to match the genderNo definition set for genderLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. and numberNo definition set for numberLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. of the noun they are describing:

  • Los chicos dejaron la puerta abierta cuando salieron de casa.

    The kids left the door open when they left home.

• They can express the degree of severity by adding an adverb such as muy ("very") or suffixes such as -ísimo (absolute superlative in Spanish), -ito (diminutives in Spanish), etc.

  • Mamá, por favor siéntate. Tienes cara de estar cansadísima/muy cansada.

    Mom, please sit down. You look like you’re very tired.

• They can complement the noun by being placed after the noun or after a non-action verb like estar ("to be").

  • Tiré a la basura el cuaderno destruído por la lluvia.

    I threw away the notebook destroyed by the rain.

  • El cuaderno está destruído.

    The notebook is destroyed.

  Important

  If the word you are using already has an adjective in existence, use the adjective, not the participle, for these constructions. For example, limpio ("clean") vs. limpiado ("cleaned").

  • Tengo cuatro camisas limpias para el viaje.

    I have four clean shirts for the trip.

  Limpias is used rather than limpiadas, because we already have an existing adjective in Spanish!

• When combined with the verb estar ("to be"), past participles can be used as adjectives that indicate emotions, states of being, or conditions.

  • Nosotros estamos preocupados por tu salud. Necesitas ir al médico.

    We are concerned about your health. You need to go to the doctor.

  • Ella estaba parada en la esquina esperando a su abuelita.

    She was standing on the corner waiting for her grandmother.

  Important

  Notice that English uses an “-ing” verb for “to be standing” whereas Spanish uses the past participle (parado). We never use the gerund (form in -ando/-iendo) in Spanish after estar when talking about states of being or conditions.

  Ella estaba parando en la esquina.

• Past participles can receive complements as long as they are not direct/indirect object pronouns.

  • La comida preparada por aquellos estudiantes estuvo deliciosa.

    The food prepared by those students was delicious.

Adjectives in Spanish can be turned into nouns by simply adding an article (e.g. el/la ("the")) in front of them. For example:

• Yo vivo en la casa roja.

  I live in the red house.

  Yo vivo en la roja.

  I live in the red one.

Similarly, many participles can be used as nouns when referring to people (or sometimes animals) which in English is equivalent to “one(s)” or “person/people.”

• el herido →

  the injured one/person

  el encargado →

  the person in charge

Because they are nouns you will often see them paired with an article or a demonstrative adjective:

• Los/Aquellos heridos no han recibido atención.

  The/Those wounded (people) have not received attention.

Furthermore, the participle has to agree with the gender of the person, and is plural if there is more than one person.

• La (mujer) acusada entró a la sala cabizbaja. No miró a nadie.

  The accused (woman) entered the room crestfallen. She didn’t look at anyone.

• Los contagiados estuvieron en cuarentena a su llegada.

  The infected ones were quarantined upon their arrival.

Past participles can also be preceded by the Spanish neutral article (lo) to replace a full sentence or clause. In this case, the past participle in Spanish is invariable and it is equivalent to the English “what was/had + past participle.”

• Según lo investigado, las molas son originarias de Panamá.

  According to what was studied, the molas are originally from Panama.

  

• No me quiso explicar lo ocurrido.

  He did not want to explain what had happened.

Up until this point, you have seen the past participles matched up with the verbs haber ("to have, auxiliary"), ser ("to be"), and estar ("to be"). However, past participles can also be matched with the following verbs (please keep in mind you must also match the participle to the number and gender of the noun they refer to):

• Verbs that express a state of being or a result of an action, such as parecer ("to seem"), resultar ("to turn out to be"), quedar(se) ("to stay, to remain, to become"), etc.

  • La ventana parece cerrada, pero quiero que la revises.

    The window seems closed, but I want you to check.

• Action verbs, such as mirar ("to watch, to see"), caminar ("to walk"), llegar ("to arrive"), can be followed by a participle to describe both the action and the subject of the sentence. The participle has to agree in gender and number with the subject.

  • La chica caminaba enojada hacia su casa después de caerse en el lodo.

    The girl walked angrily toward her house after falling in the mud.

• Dejar ("to leave, to put") indicates a change in state that is the result of a previous action that has been completed. It is often used with participles of mood or that express resolution.

  • Dejé cerradas las cortinas, por favor no las abras.

    I have left the curtains closed, please do not open them.

• Quedar ("to be left"), similar to dejar, focuses on the result of a previous action or event. It can loosely translate to “ended up.”

  • La ciudad quedó destruída después del huracán.

    The city was left destroyed after the hurricane.

• Llevar ("to have, to take") can replace haber in compound tensesNo definition set for compound tensesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. to indicate repetition of an action that is likely to continue into the present or future.

  • Mis padres ya llevan ahorrados veinte mil dólares para su jubilación.

    My parents have already saved 20 thousand dollars for their retirement.

• Tener ("to have") can also replace haber in compound tenses, but in this case tener gives a meaning of possession or permanence to the action.

  • Tenemos rentada la casa.

    We have the house rented.

  • Tengo fritas las papas de la cena de esta noche.

    I have the potatoes fried for tonight’s dinner.