Irregular Past Participles

Some Spanish verbs have past participles that don’t follow the regular patterns of adding -ado to -ar verbs or -ido to -er and -ir verbs. These irregular forms must be memorized as they don’t adhere to any specific rule.

Common Irregular Past Participles

Here are some of the most frequently used irregular past participles:

• abrir (to open) → abierto
• decir (to say) → dicho
• escribir (to write) → escrito
• hacer (to do/make) → hecho
• morir (to die) → muerto
• poner (to put) → puesto
• resolver (to resolve) → resuelto
• romper (to break) → roto
• ver (to see) → visto
• volver (to return) → vuelto

Using these Past Participles

1. Compound Tenses
   • “He visto esa película tres veces.” (I have seen that movie three times.)
   • “Ellos habían escrito la carta antes de irse.” (They had written the letter before leaving.)
2. As Adjectives
   • “La puerta abierta dejaba entrar el frío.” (The open door was letting in the cold.)
   • “El problema resuelto ya no nos preocupa.” (The resolved problem no longer worries us.)
3. In Passive Constructions
   • “El contrato fue hecho por nuestro abogado.” (The contract was made by our lawyer.)
   • “Los libros están puestos en el estante.” (The books are put on the shelf.)

Key Points to Remember

1. These irregular forms must be memorized as they don’t follow the regular patterns of past participle formation.
2. Many of these irregular past participles end in -to, -cho, or -so, but this is not a rule that applies to all irregular forms.
3. Some verbs (like “romper”) have both irregular (roto) and regular (rompido) forms, but the irregular form is generally more common and accepted.
4. Compound verbs usually follow the same irregular pattern as their root verb:
   • deshacer (to undo) → deshecho (like “hacer → hecho”)
   • descubrir (to discover) → descubierto (like “cubrir → cubierto”)
5. These past participles follow the same rules as regular verbs for gender and number agreement when used as adjectives.
6. In compound tenses with “haber”, these past participles stay the same, just like regular verbs.

Mastering these irregular past participles is crucial for achieving fluency in Spanish, as they are used frequently in both spoken and written communication.