The past participle in Spanish is primarily used with the verb haber ‘to have’ to form the present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect of Spanish verbs. Similar to the past participle in English, the Spanish past participle is formed by affixing a suffix to the stem of a verb. The following sections explain the formation of regular and irregular past participles in Spanish as well as the slight spelling changes that some past participles experience.
Past Participles of Regular -ar Verbs
To form the past participle of a regular -ar verb, remove the -ar suffix from the end of the infinitive and affix the -ado suffix to the stem. For example:
- Infinitive – Past Participle – English
- bailar – bailado – danced
- cantar – cantado – sang
- escuchar – escuchado – listened
- estudiar – estudiado – studied
- hablar – hablado – talked, spoken
- jugar – jugado – played
- trabajar – trabajado – worked
- viajar – viajado – traveled
Past Participles of Regular -er and -ir Verbs
To form the past participle of a regular -er verb, remove the -er suffix from the end of the infinitive and affix the -ido suffix to the stem. Notice that some Spanish verbs like tener ‘to have’ and ser ‘to be’ that are irregular in other conjugations are regular in the past participle. For example:
- Infinitive – Past Participle – English
- aprender – aprendido – learned
- beber – bebido – drunk
- comer – comido – eaten
- correr – corrido – run
- perder – perdido – lost
- ser – sido – been
- tener – tenido – had
- vender – vendido – sold
To form the past participle of a regular -ir verb, remove the -ir suffix from the end of the infinitive and also affix the -ido suffix to the stem. Notice that some Spanish verbs like ir ‘to go’ that are irregular in other conjugations are also regular in the past participle. For example:
- Infinitive – Present Participle – English
- asistir – asistiendo – assisting
- discutir – discutido – discussed
- ir – ido – gone
- recibir – recibido – received
- repetir – repetido – repeated
- salir – salido – left
- sufrir – sufrido – suffered
- vivir – vivido – lived
Irregular Past Participles
Some verbs are simply irregular in the past participle. Irregular past participles must be memorized. For example:
- Infinitive – Past Participle – English
- abrir – abierto – opened
- cubrir – cubierto – covered
- decir – dicho – said
- describir – descrito – described
- escribir – escrito – written
- freir – frito – fried
- hacer – hecho – done, made
- morir – muerto – died
- poner – puesto – put
- resolver – resuelto – resolved
- romper – roto – broken
- ver – visto – seen
- volver – vuelto – returned
Past Participles with Spelling Changes
To spell the past participle of a Spanish verb whose -er, or -ir suffix precedes a vowel or nothing, remove the -er, or -ir suffix and affix the -ído suffix to the stem. Notice that the i changes to an accented í. For example:
- Infinitive – Present Participle – English
- caer – caído – fallen
- construir – construído – constructed
- creer – creído – believed
- huir – huído – fled
- leer – leído – read
- oír – oído – heard
- seguir – siguído – followed
- traer – traído – brought
Spanish past participles most often combine with the verb haber ‘to have’ to form the present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect conjugations of verbs in Spanish. Learning to form the past participles of Spanish verbs is essential for learning to communicate with the Spanish language.
Note: I have studied Spanish as a foreign language. Please feel free to correct any mistakes that I have made in my Spanish.
References
Ramboz, Ina. 2008. Spanish verbs & essentials of grammar (Verbs and Essentials of Grammar Series), 2nd edn. New York: McGraw-Hill.
