Spanish past participles as adjectives

Participles as adjectives in Spanish

In Spanish the past participle form of a verb [-ado/-ido form] is not only used with the verb haber to form compound tenses, e.g. El Pretérito Perfecto or El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto, but they can also act as adjectives.

Have a look at the following examples:

Carlos está obsesionado con el dinero.Carlos is obsessed with money.

Andrea está obsesionada con el dinero.Andrea is obsessed with money.

Mis hijos están obsesionados con el dinero.My sons are obsessed with money.

Mis hijas están obsesionadas con el dinero.My daughters are obsessed with money.

Notice how we are using the same past participle of the verb "obsesionar" but in each sentence it agrees with the specific subject. (Carlos, obsesionado; Andrea, obsesionada; Hijos, obsesionados; Hijas, obsesionadas.)

It is very common to see these adjectives following the verb estar, as shown above, but they can also accompany the noun they are directly modifying.

For example:

Los niños cansados se fueron a dormir.The tired children went to bed.

Llegamos a un lugar abandonado, en medio de la nada.We arrived at an abandoned place, in the middle of nowhere.

La policía interrogó a las chicas arrestadas.The police questioned the arrested girls.

El paisaje de las montañas cubiertas de nieve era muy bonito.The landscape with the snow-covered mountains was very pretty.

Remember that there are irregular past participles (e.g cubierto, dicho, hecho, etc) which don't have the regular endings (-ado/ido).

Mi amiga estaba harta y se fue.My friend was fed up and she left.

El pueblo, visto desde esta montaña, parece muy pequeño.The village, seen from this mountain, looks very small.

Colgué en la pared todos los dibujos hechos por los niños.I hung on the wall all the drawings made by the children.

See Irregular past participles in Spanish and Spanish irregular past participles ending in -to/-cho.

Past participles used as adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they are referring to.

Important note:

There are common phrases in English where the gerund (-ing form) is used while in Spanish the past participle is used (-ado/-ido). For example:

Los chicos estaban sentados en el borde de la piscina.
Los chicos estaban sentando en el borde de la piscina.
The boys were sitting on the edge of the pool.

Ella estaba tumbada en el suelo.
Ella estaba tumbando en el suelo.
She was lying on the floor.

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Examples and resources

Los niños cansados se fueron a dormir.The tired children went to bed.
La policía interrogó a las chicas arrestadas.The police questioned the arrested girls.
Mis hijas están obsesionadas con el dinero.My daughters are obsessed with money.
Mi amiga estaba harta y se fue.My friend was fed up and she left.
El pueblo, visto desde esta montaña, parece muy pequeño.The village, seen from this mountain, looks very small.
Colgué en la pared todos los dibujos hechos por los niños.I hung on the wall all the drawings made by the children.
Andrea está obsesionada con el dinero.Andrea is obsessed with money.
Carlos está obsesionado con el dinero.Carlos is obsessed with money.
Mis hijos están obsesionados con el dinero.My sons are obsessed with money.
Llegamos a un lugar abandonado, en medio de la nada.We arrived at an abandoned place, in the middle of nowhere.
El paisaje de las montañas cubiertas de nieve era muy bonito.The landscape with the snow-covered mountains was very pretty.
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