PAST PARTICIPLES AND THE PERFECT TENSES

PAST PARTICIPLES Past participles are words like “eaten,” “fallen,” “found,” “arranged,” “left,” “denied” They are a verb form that can be used as an adjective OR as part of a perfect tense

PAST PARTICIPLES In Spanish, past participles are formed by dropping the “-ar” and adding –ado, or the “-er,” “-ir” and adding -ido Examples: comer (to eat) comido (eaten) hablar (to speak) hablado (spoken)

More examples: vender (to sell) vendido (sold) casar (to marry) casado (married) barrer (to sweep) barrido (swept) cansar (to tire, wear out) cansado (tired)

Not ALL past participles are formed by adding –ado or –ido. Some are irregular! Do you know what past participles the following verbs take? abrirmorir cubrirponer descubrirresolver decirromper hacerver escribirvolver abierto cubierto descubierto dicho hecho escrito muerto puesto resuelto roto visto vuelto

PAST PARTICIPLES AS ADJECTIVES

When past participles act as adjectives, they must agree with the noun they modify: The house was sold. (vender) La casa fue vendida. Rebecca is tired in the morning. (cansar) Rebecca está cansada por la mañana. The light is turned off. (apagar) La luz está apagada.

El DVD debe ser rebobinado. (rebobinar=to rewind)

Las vacas están usadas.

¡Ahora te toca a ti! 1. The car was washed. (lavar) 2. The waitress was fired. (despedir) 3. The reserved room is mine. (reservar). 4. I have my plans arranged. (arreglar).

1. El coche fue lavado. 2. La mesera (camarera fue despedida. 3. La habitación reservada es mía. 4. Tengo mis planes arreglados.

Now try the following irregular verbs. They STILL must agree with the noun they modify: The broken window is your fault. (romper) La ventana rota es tu culpa. My grandparents are dead. (morir) Mis abuelos están muertos. The table is set. (poner) La mesa está puesta.

PAST PARTICIPLES AS PART OF THE PERFECT TENSES

PERFECT TENSES In Spanish, a perfect tense just means “has/have/had done,” for example “I have eaten.” All perfect tenses are formed as follows: HABER + PAST PARTICIPLE (to have) (done)

Present tense of “HABER” is as follows: yo nosotros/as tú él, ella ellos, ellas, Ud. Uds. This is translated as: I have done, you have done, he has done, we have done, they have done he has ha hemos han

Past tense of “HABER” is as follows: yo nosotros/as tú él, ella ellos, ellas, Ud. Uds. This is translated as: I had done, you had done, he had done, we had done, they had done había habías había habíamos habían

NEVER change the past participle when it’s part of a perfect tense. Verbs don’t have gender, only nouns and adjectives.

Examples: I have traveled. (viajar) He viajado. I had traveled. Había viajado. We have returned. (volver) ¡ojo! Hemos vuelto. They had fastened... (poner) ¡ojo! Habían puesto.

But, how can I remember that the PERFECT tenses mean “to have done” something?

OH, PERFECT! NOW YOU’VE DONE IT! Get it? “Perfect tense” is you “have done” something. This will help you remember what perfect tense means!