Past Participles
The past participle is the past form of a verb. It is used in many compound verb tenses which we will study in this class.
Past participles are used:
­ To form compound tenses
ex: I have eaten three tacos.
ex: They have said goodbye already.
­ To form the passive voice:
ex: Chess is played by very Examples of English verbs intelligent people.
and their past participles:
ex: Harry Potter was written by J.K. to say ­ said
Rowling.
to break ­ broken
to eat ­ eaten
to play ­ played
to write ­ written
to open ­ open / opened
­ To express the result of an action with estar:
ex: The door is open.
ex: The windows are broken.
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The past participle is formed by taking off the ending of an infinitive and adding ­ado for ­ar verbs and ­ido for ­er/­ir verbs.
hablar (to speak) = hablado (spoken)
cerrar (to close) = cerrado (closed)
comer (to eat) = comido (eaten)
vivir (to live) = vivido (lived)
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The following common verbs have irregular past participles:
abrir (to open) ‐ abierto (open)
cubrir (to cover) ‐ cubierto (covered)
decir (to say) ‐ dicho (said)
escribir (to write) ‐ escrito (written)
freír (to fry) ‐ frito (fried)
hacer (to do) ‐ hecho (done)
morir (to die) ‐ muerto (died/dead)
poner (to put) ‐ puesto (put)
resolver (to resolve) ‐ resuelto (resolved)
romper (to break) ‐ roto (broken)
ver (to see) ‐ visto (seen)
volver (to return) ‐ vuelto (returned)
Note that compound verbs based on the irregular verbs inherit the same
irregularities. Here are a few examples:
componer ‐ compuesto
describir ‐ descrito
devolver ‐ devuelto
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Split up the dipthong! Note that for ‐er and ‐ir verbs, if the stem ends in a vowel, a written
accent will be required.
creer ‐ creído
oír ‐ oído
traer ‐ traído
Note: this rule does not apply, and no written accent is required for
verbs ending in ‐uir. (construir, seguir, influir, distinguir, etc.)
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The Present Perfect Tense
To talk about actions that were completed in the past already, use the present tense form of "haber" followed by the past participle.
yo he
tú has
él/ella ha
nosotros hemos
vosotros habéis
ellos / ellas han
Yo he comido la pizza. = I have eaten the pizza.
Ellos han leído el libro. = They have read the book.
Nosotros hemos aprendido español.= We have learned Spanish.
Has hecho la tarea? = Have you done the homework?
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