In Spanish compound tenses use the past participle form of the verb, e.g he hablado, has comido, hemos vivido.
Just as in English not all past participles end in -ed (She has lived, she has worked, but she has done or she has written), Spanish is the same: some past participles are irregular and do not follow the regular -ado/-ido rule but they have a different form.
Ending in -to:
Let's look at some examples:
Mi novio me ha escrito una carta romántica.
My boyfriend wrote me a romantic letter.
He vuelto del trabajo muy cansada.
I returned from work very tired.
Note that these Spanish examples use El Pretérito Perfecto to show you the past participle, but the usual English translation of El Pretérito Perfecto does not use the the English past participle.
The irregular past participles are random! They don't follow any pattern so they need to be memorised. However once you know a verb has an irregular past participle, you know that its derivatives all follow the same pattern.
For example:
poner (to put) = puesto
posponer (to postpone) = pospuesto
proponer (to propose) = propuesto
reponer (to replace) = repuesto
Other verbs with an irregular past participles ending in -to are:
Ver to see (veído)
Hemos visto una película muy interesante en el cine.
We saw a very interesting film at the cinema.
Romper to break (rompido)
Los niños han roto el cristal de la ventana con una piedra.
The kids broke the window with a stone.
Abrir to open (abrido)
Los estudiantes han abierto sus libros para empezar a estudiar.
The students opened their books to start studying.
Morir to die (morido)
Su abuelo ha muerto de repente.
His grandfather died suddenly.
Resolver to resolve (resolvido)
¿Has resuelto ya el problema?
Have you already solved the problem?
Remember that past participles in compound tenses are invariable: they have one form (singular masculine form) that does not vary depending on the gender of the person acting as subject.
El chico ha vuelto de España.
La chica ha vuelto de España.
La chica ha vuelta de España. (incorrect)
Ending in -cho:
Have a look to this table with the most common irregular past participles ending in -cho:
| Decir (to say) | dicho |
| Hacer (to do) | hecho |
| Deshacer (to undo) |
deshecho |
| Predecir (to predict) |
predicho |
| Satisfacer (to satisfy) |
satisfecho |
Here are some examples to listen to:
He dicho la verdad.
I told the truth.
La pitonisa ha predicho un buen futuro a los chicos.
The story teller has predicted a good future to the boys.
La costurera ha deshecho todos los puntos de la falda.
The seamstress has undone all the stitches on the skirt.
El producto ha satisfecho a los clientes.
The product has satisfied the clients.
Lola ha hecho un pastel de chocolate muy rico.
Lola made a delicious chocolate cake.
Ending in -so
There is one verb in Spanish which has an irregular past participle form that ends in -so:
Double participles
There are 3 participles in Spanish that accept two forms. Their irregular form is as correct as their regular form. Have a look:
Freír (to fry) = freído/frito
Imprimir (to print) = imprimido/impreso
Proveer (to provide) = proveído/provisto
¿Habéis frito todo el pescado?
Have you fried all the fish?
¿Habéis freído todo el pescado?
Have you fried all the fish?
La secretaria ha impreso todos los documentos.
The secretary printed all the documents.
La secretaria ha imprimido todos los documentos.
The secretary printed all the documents.
El gobierno local ha provisto ayudas económicas a gente desfavorecida.
The local government has provided economic help to disadvantaged people.
El gobierno local ha proveído ayudas económicas a gente desfavorecida.
The local government has provided economic help to disadvantaged people.
For specific lessons on irregular past participles in El Pretérito Perfecto see:
- Conjugate ver in El Pretérito Perfecto (present perfect)
- Conjugate decir in El Pretérito Perfecto (present perfect)
- Conjugate hacer in El Pretérito Perfecto (present perfect)
- Conjugate poner and its derivatives in El Pretérito Perfecto (present perfect)
For more advanced uses of past participles see:
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
La secretaria ha imprimido todos los documentos.
The secretary printed all the documents.
¿Habéis freído todo el pescado?
Have you fried all the fish?
¿Has resuelto ya el problema?
Have you already solved the problem?
El gobierno local ha proveído ayudas económicas a gente desfavorecida.
The local government has provided economic help to disadvantaged people.
He vuelto del trabajo muy cansada.
I returned from work very tired.
Mi novio me ha escrito una carta romántica.
My boyfriend wrote me a romantic letter.
El gobierno local ha provisto ayudas económicas a gente desfavorecida.
The local government has provided economic help to disadvantaged people.
Los estudiantes han abierto sus libros para empezar a estudiar.
The students opened their books to start studying.
¿Habéis frito todo el pescado?
Have you fried all the fish?
Hemos visto una película muy interesante en el cine.
We saw a very interesting film at the cinema.
La secretaria ha impreso todos los documentos.
The secretary printed all the documents.
Los niños han roto el cristal de la ventana con una piedra.
The kids broke the window with a stone.
¿Dónde has puesto las llaves?
Where did you put the keys?
Su abuelo ha muerto de repente.
His grandfather died suddenly.
Clara
Kwiziq community member
19 February 2019
2 replies
Re: The 3 double past participles.
Buenas tardes Inma,
Which do you find is the more commonly used of the two forms? Is it down to personal choice as to whether one uses the regular or irregular form?
Gracias
Clara
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
19 February 2019
19/02/19
Hola Clara
For the 3 cases with double past participles:
Freír (to fry) = freído/frito
Imprimir (to print) = imprimido/impreso
Proveer (to provide) = proveído/provisto
they are all used and accepted, however, when their function in the sentence is that of an adjective, the irregular forms are more commonly used, for example:
"He dejado los papeles impresos en la mesa" or "Ayer comí patatas fritas".
Hope this helps.
Saludos
Inma
Clara
Kwiziq community member
19 February 2019
19/02/19
Yes, that's a great help Inma.
Gracias
Clara