Participles For Intermediate learners

What Are Participles?

Participles (participios) are non-finite verb forms, which means they do not reflect tense or mood. They are used in formation of compound tenses and the passive voice, as well as functioning as adjectives or adverbs.

Types

There are two types of participles in Spanish

Present participle

Past participle

Present Participles

Called gerundio in Spanish, present participles are invariable and formed by:

Adding -ando to the stem of -ar verbs

Adding -iendo to the stem of -er and -ar verbs

For example:

Example

Estoy hablando.

I am speaking.

Estás comiendo.

You are eating.

Está durmiendo.

He/she is sleeping.

However, there are some irregular present participle forms:

for -er and -ir verbs, if the stem ends in a vowel, we use -yendo instead of -iendo:

Example

caer → ca- → cayendo

leer → le- → leyendo

oír → o- → oyendo

-ir verbs that undergo stem change in third person past simple (e > i or o > u) undergo the same change when forming the present participle:

Example

decir → dijo (third-person past simple) → diciendo

venir → vino (third-person past simple) → viniendo

morir → murió (third-person past simple) → muriendo

dormir → durmió (third-person past simple) → durmiendo

the verb "ir" has a completely irregular form in present participle and becomes "yendo"

Uses

The present participle is used:

in formation of progressive verb forms with the auxiliary verb "estar"

Example

Estoy estudiando.

I am studying.

Estaba pensando en el examen.

He was thinking about the exam.

adverbially, expressing the manner of a verb

Example

Entró cantando.

He came in singing.

Pasó el día trabajando.

He spent the day working.

Warning!

Unlike the English gerund, which can be used as a noun, the Spanish gerundio is not used nominally and the infinitive is used in cases where English uses the gerund. The Spanish gerundio corresponds with the English present participle which is used in formation of verbs.

Example

Smoking is bad. → Fumar es malo.

Past Participles

Called participio in Spanish, the past participles are formed by:

adding -ado to the stem of -ar verbs

adding -ido to the stem of -er and -ir verbs

For example:

Example

He comido.

I have eaten.

Hemos vivido aquí.

We have lived here.

Han leído esos libros.

They have read those books.

However, there are some irregular forms:

ver → visto

poner → puesto

hacer → hecho

abrir → abierto

escribir → escrito

volver → vuelto

leer → leído

morir → muerto

Uses

The past participle is used:

in formation of perfect tenses, with the auxiliary verb "haber"; it is invariable in this usage:

Example

He escrito un libro.

I have written a book.

Habíamos terminado.

We had finished.

in formation of the passive voice, with the auxiliary verb "ser"; it is variable and agrees with the gender and number of the noun in this usage:

Example

La carta fue escrita por Ana.

The letter was written by Ana.

Los informes fue preparados.

The reports were prepared.

As an adjective, typically used after copular verbs like "estar" or with nouns; it is variable and agrees with the gender and number of the noun in this usage: