Participle of Spanish verbs

What is el participio?

The participle (el participio) is a verb form in Spanish grammar that corresponds loosely to the English past participle (have done, have seen, have asked …) and indicates a sense of completion.

The Spanish participle is formed by adding -ado or -ido to the root of the verb (amado, temido, partido …) but there are also several irregular participles (abierto, dicho, escrito …).

Together with the infinitive and the gerund, the participle is an impersonal verb form. This means that is is not conjugated.

When used in compound tenses, the participle is invariable; it always ends in -o. However, in other contexts the participle is variable: it changes its ending to reflect the number and gender of the word it accompanies (comprado/comprada/comprados/compradas).

Learn all about Spanish participles with Lingolia, then practise using them in the exercises.

Contents

Zeichnung

Mi padre me ha enviado un mensaje: quiere que compre pan.

Dice que tiene encargadas dos barras de pan en la panadería, pero yo ya he ido al supermercado esta mañana y he comprado otras cosas.

Es verdad que el pan se me ha olvidado, ¡pero no me lo había dicho!

Dice que es importante porque tiene pensada la comida y quiere hacer salmorejo: el pan es fundamental.

Le he respondido que mi hermana Marta también puede ir a comprar el pan.

Terminada su clase de violín, tiene una hora libre antes de comer.

¡Suficiente para acercarse a la tienda!

How to form the Spanish participle

We form the Spanish participle by adding -ado or -ido to the root of the verb.

  • add -ado to the root of -ar verbs
    Example:
    hablar → habladospeak → spoken
  • add -ido to the root of -er and -ir verbs
    Example:
    aprender → aprendidolearn → learned
    vivir → vividolive → lived

Note

When the root of the verb ends in a vowel, the -i of the ending -ido takes an accent: -ído.

Examples:
leer → leídoread → read
oír → oídohear → heard
traer → traídobring → brought

Note: Participles that contain a dipthong (weak vowel + weak vowel) such as construido or huido do not take an accent.

Check out our Spanish-language page on accents to learn more about dipthongs.

Irregular participles

Certain verbs have an irregular participle form as shown in the table below:

Verb Irregular Participle Regular Participle
abrir abierto
cubrir cubierto
decir dicho
escribir escrito
hacer hecho
freír* frito freído
imprimir* impreso imprimido
morir muerto
poner puesto
proveer* provisto proveído
romper roto
satisfacer satisfecho
suscribir** suscrito/suscripto
ver visto
volver vuelto

*Some verbs have two participle forms, one regular and one irregular. There is no difference in meaning and they can be used interchangeably.

**The participle suscripto is used in certain countries in Latin America.

Derivative irregular verbs

Many verbs are derivative; they are derived from irregular verbs by adding a prefix. Their participles are also irregular:

Examples:
encubrir → encubiertohide → hidden
descubrir → descubiertodiscover → discovered
componer → compuestocompose → composed
posponer → pospuestopostpone → postponed
proponer → propuestopropose → proposed
revolver → revueltostir → stirred
resolver → resueltoresolve → resolved
devolver → devueltoreturn → returned
deshacer → deshechoundo → undone
predecir → predichopredict → predicted
prever → previstoforecast → forecasted

Note: although derived from the irregular verb romperto break, the participle of the verb corromperto corrupt is regular.

Example:
corromper → corrompidocorrupt → corrupted
not: corroto

When to use the Spanish participle

The Spanish participle has multiple uses:

Compound tenses

Invariable participle

The most common function of the Spanish participle is to form compound tenses with the auxiliary verb haber.

In this capacity, the participle is invariable; it ends in -o regardless of the words it accompanies.

Examples:
Mi padre me ha enviado un mensaje.My dad has sent me a message.
perfect indicative
¡No me lo había dicho!He hadn’t told me that!
pluperfect indicative

The participle is used in the following compound tenses: the perfect, pluperfect, future perfect and conditional perfect in the indicative as well as the perfect subjunctive and the past perfect subjunctive.

Other uses of the participle

Variable participle

When not used in the compound tenses, the Spanish participle is variable; its ending changes to reflect the number and gender of the noun it accompanies.

We use the variable participle in the following cases:

  • in passive sentences (las oraciones pasivas)
    Example:
    La clase de violín de mi hermana fue suspendida a última hora.My sister’s violin lesson was cancelled last minute.
    ser + variable participle
  • in participle clauses (las oraciones absolutas); here the participle agrees with the subject of the clause
    Example:
    Terminada su clase de violín, tiene una hora libre antes de comer.Her violin lesson was over so she has an hour off before dinner.
    variable participle + subject
  • in verbal periphrasis
    Example:
    Mi padre tiene encargadas dos barras de pan en la panadería.My dad has ordered two loaves of bread at the bakery.
    conjugated verb + variable participle

See below for more information on participle endings.

Participle agreement

As stated above, Spanish participles are variable in certain contexts. This means that they change their endings to agree in gender and number with the word they are accompanying.

Examples:
Mi padre tiene encargadas dos barras de pan.My dad has ordered two loaves of bread.
feminine plural noun (barras) = participle ending in -as
Terminada su clase de violín, tiene una hora libre.Having finished her violin lesson, she has an hour off.
feminine singular noun (clase) = participle ending in -a
Singular Plural
masculine -ado/-ido -ados/-idos
femenine -ada/-ida -adas/-idas