Regular -AR Verb Past Participles

Regular -AR verbs form the biggest and most predictable group of verbs in Spanish. Their past participles follow a simple rule, making them a breeze for English speakers to learn and use correctly.

How to Form the Past Participle

To create the past participle of regular -AR verbs:

1. Chop off the -ar ending from the infinitive.
2. Add -ado to the remaining part (the stem).

Formula: [verb stem] + ado

Some Common Examples

Here are a few common regular -AR verbs and their past participles:

1. hablar (to speak) → hablado
2. cantar (to sing) → cantado
3. trabajar (to work) → trabajado
4. estudiar (to study) → estudiado
5. comprar (to buy) → comprado
6. mirar (to look at) → mirado
7. cocinar (to cook) → cocinado
8. bailar (to dance) → bailado
9. viajar (to travel) → viajado
10. lavar (to wash) → lavado

Using Past Participles in Context

1. Compound Tenses
   • “He hablado con María.” (I have spoken with Maria.)
   • “Habían cantado toda la noche.” (They had sung all night.)
2. As Adjectives
   • “La ropa lavada está en la secadora.” (The washed clothes are in the dryer.)
   • “Tienen un coche comprado el año pasado.” (They have a car bought last year.)
3. In Passive Constructions
   • “El informe fue estudiado por el comité.” (The report was studied by the committee.)
   • “La cena está cocinada.” (The dinner is cooked.)

Key Points to Keep in Mind

1. The -ado ending never changes, no matter the subject’s gender or number, when used in compound tenses with “haber”.
2. When used as adjectives, past participles do agree in gender and number:
   • masculine singular: -ado
   • feminine singular: -ada
   • masculine plural: -ados
   • feminine plural: -adas
   Example: “Las casas compradas están en buen estado.” (The bought houses are in good condition.)
3. Watch out for verbs that might look like -AR verbs but are irregular, such as “dar” (to give), which has the irregular past participle “dado”.
4. The stress in regular -AR past participles always falls on the second-to-last syllable (-a-do), and no written accent is needed.

By mastering regular -AR verb past participles, you’ll build a solid foundation for understanding more complex verb forms in Spanish.