Regular Past Participle Spanish Forms
To form the past participle of a regular verb, you dro the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and add -ado to the stem of -ar verbs and -ido to the stem of -er and -ir verbs. This is equivalent to adding -ed to many verbs in English.
How to Form the Regular Past Participles
Verb Type Infinitive Example Stem Example Past Participle Example
-ar verb
hablar
habl-
hablado
-er verbs
tener
ten-
tenido
-ir verb
vivir
viv-
vivido
Irregular Past Participle Spanish Forms
Quite a few Spanish verbs have irregular past participles. In the table below you'll find a few of the most common ones. For a a more exhaustive list of irregular past participles, click here.
Infinitive Past Participle English
abrir
abierto
open/opened
decir
dicho
said
escribir
escrito
written
hacer
hecho
done/completed
ver
visto
seen
Past Participle Uses
1. Perfect Tenses
There are quite a few perfect tenses in Spanish, and they all use past participles.
Many of the perfect tenses use a version of the following formula:
Perfect Formula
haber + past participle
The examples below show a past participle being used in the present perfect and the future perfect.
¿Has viajado mucho a Uruguay?
Have you traveled a lot to Uruguay?
Habré leído todos sus libros.
I will have read all of his books.
Whole Lot of Perfect Tenses Going On
Check out our articles on these Spanish perfect tenses:
present perfect
past perfect
preterite perfect
future perfect
conditional perfect
present perfect subjunctive
past perfect subjunctive
future perfect subjunctive
2. Adjectives
Past participles are commonly used as adjectives in Spanish. When this is the case, they must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. The following examples show past participles being used as adjectives.
Me encantan los huevos revueltos.
I love scrambled eggs.
Salimos por la puerta abierta.
We left through the open door.
Predicative Adjective
Predicative adjectives are adjectives used in conjunction with a linking verb, such as ser (to be), estar (to be) , or parecer (to seem). Predicative adjectives must also agree with the nouns they modify in gender and number.
Mi novela favorita fue escrita por Gabriel García Márquez.
My favorite novel was written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Las puertas están cerradas.
The doors are closed.
Esta manzana parece podrida.
This apple seems rotten.
