PAST

PART

ICIP

LE

SPANIS

H I

I I

MRS .

O.

PACHECO

PAST PARTICIPLE

The past participle is a specific form of the verb that usually ends in ‐ado or ‐ido. This is not a conjugated form because it does not change to agree with the subject. The past participle will be important in future lessons covering the perfect tenses. hablar - ar + ado = habladocomer - er + ido = comidovivir - ir + ido = vivido

It may be used after a conjugated form of the helping verb, haber, as part of a compound verb (a verb tense that requires more than one word to create). When used as a verb, it always ends in ‐o because it does not need to agree with the subject in number or gender. This type of past participle will be called the “pure past participle” to indicate that you should not mess with its ending.

It is the base form used to create an adjective from a verb. When used as an adjective, the past participle verb form must be adapted to match the gender and number of the noun it modifies. Just about every verb can be made into an adjective by using its past participle form.

THE PAST PARTICIPLE VERB FORM HAS TWO USES:

USED AS ADJECTIVES

Most past participles can be used as adjectives. Like other adjectives, they agree in gender and number with the nouns that they modify.

La puerta está cerrada.The door is closed.

Las puertas están cerradas.The doors are closed.

El restaurante está abierto.The restaurant is open.

Los restaurantes están abiertos.The restaurants are open.

WITH THE VERB “SER” (PASSIVE VOICE)

The past participle can be combined with the verb "ser" to express the passive voice. Use this construction when an action is being described, and introduce the doer of the action with the word "por.“

La casa fue construida por los carpinteros.The house was built by the carpenters.

La tienda es abierta todos los días por el dueño.The store is opened every day by the owner.

No verb undergoes a stem change in its past participle form, and all ‐ar verbs have regular past participle forms. To create the past participle form of an ‐ar verb, replace the ‐ar infinitive ending with ‐ado. In the examples in Table , you may notice that the English past participle sometimes looks and sounds just like the English past tense but that the Spanish past participle form is entirely different from the past tense.

Infinitive

Past Participle

Cantar Cantado (sung)

Tomar Tomado (taken)

Cerrar Cerrado (closed)

Jugar Jugado (played)

Pensar Pensado (thought)

REGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES

PAST VS. PAST

When an English verb ends in ‐ed it may be in its past participle form or in a past tense conjugation. There is only one way to know for sure that it is a past participle rather than the past tense: A past participle is always preceded by some form of the helping verb “to have” (namely, have, has, or had). For example:

Yesterday, I wrote (past tense). I have written (past participle). Last week, I called (past tense). I have called (past participle) many times. Yesterday, he did (past tense) his homework. He has done (past participle) it every day.

Past participle forms never look like past tense forms in Spanish, and there are not many verbs with a past participle ending other than ‐ ido or ‐ado. The regular past participles of ‐er and ‐ir verbs are exactly alike (see Table ). The few irregularly formed past participles are listed in Table . Any ‐ ir or ‐er verb that does not appear on the irregular list has a past participle formed by removing the ‐er or ‐ir infinitive ending and replacing it with ‐ido. Remember that a Spanish past participle form never undergoes a stem change.

Infinitive

Past Participl

eBeber Bebido

(drunk)Prometer

Prometido (promised)

Preferir Preferido (preferred)

Vestir Vestido (dressed)

-ER & -IR ENDINGS

IRREGULAR VERBS Infinitive

Past Participle

Abrir Abierto (opened)

Cubrir Cubierto (covered)

Decir Dicho (said)

Fréir Frito (fried)

Hacer Hecho (made)

Imprimir

Impreso (printed)

Morir Muerto (dead)

Poner Puesto (put)

Resolver

Resuelto (resolved)

Romper Roto (broken)

Ver Visto (seen)

Volver Vuelto (returned)

VERBS WITH PREFIXESTable lists the 12 verbs with irregular past participle forms. Notice that most irregulars end in ‐to or ‐cho.

Many of the above verbs are also used with prefixes. The following verbs have the same past participle form (after the prefix) as the simple verbs above:

bendecir (to bless) componer (to compose) descubrir (to discover) deshacer (to undo) devolver (to return something) disponer (to put) exponer (to expose) imponer (to impose) rehacer (to redo, to remake) revolver (to turn around, to turn over)

Note: Because satisfacer (to satisfy) is always formed like hacer, its past participle is satisfecho.

To preserve the stress on the correct syllable, any verb that ends in ‐ aer, ‐eer, or ‐oír will have an accent on the í of its past participle ending (see table).

The following verbs with prefixes also have an accent on the ‐ído of the past participle form:

• atraer (to attract)• distraer (to distract)• sonreír (to smile)• sustraer (to

subtract)

Infinitive

Past Participle

caer Caído (fallen)

creer Creído (believed)

leer Leído (read)

oír Oído (heard)

reír Reído (laughed)

traer Traído (brought)

STRESSED SYLLABLES (IRREGULARS)

1. Las ventanas están _________.The windows are broken. (romper)

2. La cuenta está _________.The bill is paid. (pagar)

3. El bebé está _________ en la cuna.The baby is sleeping in the crib. (dormir)

4. ¿Está _________ la puerta?Is the door open? (abrir)

5. ¿Están los libros _________ en español?Are the books written in Spanish? (escribir)

6. El edificio fue _________ por los esclavos.The building was built by the slaves. (construir)

7. La basura fue _________ por el niño.The trash was taken out by the boy. (sacar)

8. La niña tiene una pierna _________.The girl has a broken leg. (romper)

9. Las gatas están _________.The cats are dead. (morir)

10. El cine está _________.The movie theatre is closed. (cerrar)

¡A PRACTICAR!

PLUSCUAMPE

RFECTO

(PAST

PERFE

CT)

PAST PERFECT

• The past perfect (el pluscuamperfecto), also known as the pluperfect, is a combination of the past participle and the imperfect of the verb haber. The past perfect describes an action in the past that happened before another action in the past. There are three other perfect tenses in the indicative: present perfect, preterit perfect, future perfect, and the conditional perfect.

• The past perfect describes what a person "had" done before something else happened in the past. Notice that tener is not used even though it means "to have." It is formed by combining haber (conjugated to the imperfect tense) and the past participle.• I had studied.• He had written a letter to María.• We had been stranded for six days.

COMPOUND TENSE

• Because the past perfect is a compound tense, two verbs are required: the main verb and the auxiliary verb.

• I had studied.(main verb: studied ; auxiliary verb: had)•He had written a letter to María.(main verb: written ; auxiliary verb: had)•We had been stranded for six days.(main verb: been ; auxiliary verb: had)

AUXILIARY VERB

• In Spanish, the past perfect tense is formed by using the imperfect tense of the auxiliary verb "haber" with the past participle. Haber is conjugated as follows:

habíahabíashabíahabíamoshabíaishabían

ADJECTIVE AGREEMENT

When you studied the past participle, you practiced using it as an adjective. When used as an adjective, the past participle changes to agree with the noun it modifies. However, when used in the perfect tenses, the past participle never changes.• Past participle used as an adjective:

La puerta está cerrada.The door is closed.• Past participle used in the past perfect tense:

Yo había cerrado la puerta.I had closed the door.• Past participle used as an adjective:

Las puertas están abiertas.The doors are open.• Past participle used in the past perfect tense:

Juan había abierto las puertas.Juan had opened the doors.

• Juan había abierto las puertas.Juan had opened the doors.

• Notice that we use "había" to agree with "Juan". We do NOT use "habían" to agree with "puertas." The auxiliary verb is conjugated for the subject of the sentence, not the object.

Compare these two examples:

• Juan había abierto las puertas.Juan had opened the doors.

• Juan y María habían puesto mucho dinero en el banco.Juan and Maria had put a lot of money in the bank.

• In the first example, we use "había" because the subject of the sentence is "Juan." In the second example, we use "habían" because the subject of the sentence is "Juan y María."

LET'S LOOK MORE CAREFULLY AT THE LAST EXAMPLE:

WHEN IS IT USED?• The past perfect tense is used when a past

action was completed prior to another past action. Expressions such as "ya", "antes", "nunca", "todavía" and "después" will often appear in sentences where one action was completed before another.

• Cuando llegaron los padres, los niños ya habían comido.When the parents arrived, the children had already eaten.• Yo había comido antes de llamarles.I had eaten prior to calling them.

IMPLIED IDEA

• This idea of a past action being completed before another past action need not always be stated; it can be implied.

• Juan había cerrado la ventana antes de salir. (stated)Juan had closed the window before leaving.

• Juan había cerrado la ventana. (implied)Juan had closed the window.

NEGATIVE SENTENCE

• The auxiliary verb and the past participle are never separated. To make the sentence negative, add the word "no" before the conjugated form of haber.

• (yo) No había vivido.I had not lived.• (tú) No habías vivido.

You had not lived.• (él) No había vivido.

He had not lived.• (nosotros) No habíamos vivido.

We had not lived.• (vosotros) No habíais vivido.

You-all had not lived.• (ellos) No habían vivido.

They had not lived.

OBJECT PRONOUNS

• Again, the auxiliary verb and the past participle are never separated. Object pronouns are placed immediately before the auxiliary verb.

• Pablo le había dado mucho dinero a su hermana.Pablo had given a lot of money to his sister.• To make this sentence negative, the word "no" is placed before the indirect object pronoun (le).• Pablo no le había dado mucho dinero a su hermana.Pablo had not given a lot of money to his sister.

REFLEXIVE VERBS

• With reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun is placed immediatedly before the auxiliary verb. Compare how the present perfect differs from the simple present, when a reflexive verb is used.

• Me lavo las manos. (present)I wash my hands.• Me había lavado las manos. (past perfect)

I had washed my hands.

• To make this sentence negative, the word "no" is placed before the reflexive pronoun (me).

• No me había lavado las manos.I had not washed my hands.

• Questions are formed as follows. Note how the word order is different than the English equivalent.

• ¿Habían llegado ya las chicas?Had the girls arrived yet?

• ¿Habías probado ya el postre?Had you tried the dessert yet?

• Here are the same questions in negative form. Notice how the auxiliary verb and the past participle are not separated.

• ¿No habían llegado ya las chicas?Hadn't the girls arrived yet?

• ¿No habías probado ya el postre?Hadn't you tried the dessert yet?

QUESTIONS

PAST PERFECT FORMULA

imperfect haber + past participle

• Había visto ya a mi primo. (I had already seen my cousin.)• Habías cantado en la fiesta cuando llegué.

(You had already sang at the party when I arrived.)Note: Notice that the auxilary verb (haber) and the past participle are never separated. If object pronouns are present, they go immediately before haber.

¡A PRACTICAR!

1. Cuando llegó Juan al restaurante sus padres ya __________ de comer. When Juan arrived at the restaurant his parents had already finished eating. (terminar)

2. El político ___________ bajar los impuestos. The politician had promised to lower the taxes. (prometer)

3. Mi hermana arregló la sala cuando ________ la reunión. My sister cleaned the living room when the meeting had ended. (terminar)

4. El padre ________ un buen trabajador. The father had been a good worker. (ser)

5. Le dije al policía que el ladrón había __________ por la ventana. I told the policeman that the thief had entered through the window. (entrar)