Spanish past participles: endings, irregular forms and 32 examples

Spanish past participles

How do you form Spanish past participles?

Remove -ar and add -ado: hablar → hablado. Remove -er or -ir and add -ido: comer → comido, vivir → vivido. These forms work with haber in compound tenses such as he hablado and habían vivido.

When an -er or -ir stem ends in a vowel, the i often carries a written accent to keep the syllables separate: leer → leído, oír → oído, caer → caído, traer → traído. Forms such as construido and huido normally have no accent because ui is treated differently.

Memorise the high-frequency irregulars abierto, dicho, escrito, hecho, puesto, roto, visto and vuelto. Related verbs often preserve the same base: descubrir → descubierto, devolver → devuelto, rehacer → rehecho.

Choose the right form in three steps

Start with -ado for regular -ar verbs and -ido for regular -er/-ir verbs.

Check whether the stem ends in a vowel or the verb has an irregular participle.

After haber keep the participle unchanged; as an adjective, match gender and number: la puerta cerrada, las puertas cerradas.

32 Spanish past-participle examples

The examples cover regular -ado and -ido forms, accented -ído, eight frequent irregular participles and the contrast between invariant verbal participles and agreeing adjectives.

Learn Spanish participles in four blocks

Build the two regular patterns, mark written accents, retrieve irregular forms and then compare haber with adjectival agreement.

When does a Spanish participle change?

With haber, the participle is part of a compound verb form and does not agree with the subject or object: Ella ha escrito; Ellas han escrito las cartas.

As an adjective or result description, it normally agrees with the noun: la puerta está cerrada, las ventanas están abiertas, las tareas están hechas.

Do not use the participle by itself as the main past tense. Hablado alone does not mean “I spoke”; choose a conjugated form such as hablé or he hablado.

Hola Cards is a Spanish flashcard app from holacards.org for iOS and Android. It is free to download, requires no account, has no ads, and works offline. The interface is available in English, Russian, and Portuguese; cards support translations in 28 languages and 18 practice and game modes. You can import these fixed sentences into a custom group and practise them with Spanish audio, writing, pronunciation, and review modes. Hola Cards does not form participles or decide adjective agreement automatically, so check each sentence with this guide first.

Connect participles with the present perfect, adjective agreement, present tense, preterite and sentence flashcards.

Present perfect tense / Adjective agreement / Present-tense endings / Preterite endings / Flashcards with example sentences

A five-minute participle routine

1. Build hablado, estudiado and trabajado from three -ar verbs.
2. Build comido, vivido and aprendido from -er/-ir verbs.
3. Write leído, oído, caído and traído with the accent in the right place.
4. Recall abierto, dicho, escrito, hecho, puesto, roto, visto and vuelto.
5. Compare Han abierto las ventanas with Las ventanas están abiertas, then listen and write both.

Grammar references

Formation, irregular forms and adjectival agreement were checked against primary RAE–ASALE and Instituto Cervantes sources.

• RAE–ASALE: irregular Spanish participles
• Instituto Cervantes A2: regular and irregular participle formation
• Instituto Cervantes B1: participles in perfect forms and as adjectives

**Spanish past participles: 32 examples**

He hablado con Marta. - I have spoken with Marta.
Hemos estudiado la lección. - We have studied the lesson.
Ana ha trabajado mucho. - Ana has worked a lot.
Han comprado los billetes. - They have bought the tickets.
He reservado una mesa. - I have reserved a table.
El museo ha cerrado. - The museum has closed.
Ya hemos llegado. - We have already arrived.
¿Has usado esta aplicación? - Have you used this app?
He comido temprano. - I have eaten early.
Hemos vivido aquí un año. - We have lived here for a year.
Has aprendido la regla. - You have learned the rule.
Marta ha salido. - Marta has gone out.
He leído el informe. - I have read the report.
¿Has oído la pregunta? - Have you heard the question?
El vaso se ha caído. - The glass has fallen.
Han traído los libros. - They have brought the books.
He abierto la puerta. - I have opened the door.
Has dicho la verdad. - You have told the truth.
Hemos escrito tres mensajes. - We have written three messages.
Marta ha hecho la cena. - Marta has made dinner.
Han puesto la mesa. - They have set the table.
El niño ha roto el juguete. - The child has broken the toy.
He visto esa película. - I have seen that film.
Ya has vuelto a casa. - You have already returned home.
Hemos abierto dos ventanas. - We have opened two windows.
Ellas han escrito las cartas. - They have written the letters.
La puerta está cerrada. - The door is closed.
Las ventanas están abiertas. - The windows are open.
El informe está terminado. - The report is finished.
Las tareas están hechas. - The tasks are done.
Los vasos están rotos. - The glasses are broken.
Esa actriz es muy conocida. - That actress is very well known.