When Past Participles are used in Spanish in the Perfect tenses, they do not change form. That is, they don't change according to gender or number.
However, we can use Past Participles as adjectives. For example, in English, we can say a book is "illustrated", a window is "broken". We use a Past Participle to describe the "written" section of a test or the "sworn" testimony of a witness.
Past participles used as Adjectives in Spanish
The most important thing to remember about the use of past participles as adjectives in Spanish is that they must, as all adjectives in Spanish must, agree in number and gender with the noun they are modifying:
| La revista ilustrada | Las revistas ilustradas |
| El libro ilustrado | Los libros ilustrados |
Since the Past Participle always ends in "o", there will always be four (4) forms: masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular and feminine plural.
Most Past Participles are formed by simply removing the last two letters of the infinitive and adding -ado for -Ar verbs and -ido for -Er and -Ir verbs
But of course there are a couple of irregulars! I like to think of them as the "chosen toes" because they end either in "-cho" or "sto/to".
"Cho" Infinitives |
Past Participle |
English meaning |
| Decir | dicho | said |
| Hacer | hecho | done, made |
| Deshacer | deshecho | undone |
| Rehacer | rehecho | redone |
"Sto" Infinitives |
Past Participle |
English meaning |
| Poner | puesto | put, placed |
| Ver | visto | seen |
"To" Infinitives |
Past Participle |
English meaning |
| Abrir | abierto | opened |
| Cubrir | cubierto | covered |
| Descubrir | descubierto | discovered |
| Escribir | escrito | written |
| Morir | muerto | [has] died, [is] dead (adjective) |
| Romper | roto | broken |
And a there are a couple of funky "so" verbs:
| Apresar | preso | imprisoned |
| Imprimir | impreso | printed |
Some Past Participles need accent marks because they have stems which end in a vowel.
These Past Participles are formed according to the regular pattern but need accent marks to keep their original pronunciation since the "i" is a weak vowel.
Infinitive |
Past Participle |
English meaning |
| Caer | caído | fallen |
| Creer | creído | believed |
| Leer | leído | read |
| Oír | oído | heard |
| Traer | traído | brought |