Lesson 31: Past Participles as Adjectives

31.1 Using Past Participles as Adjectives

Let us take a very brief detour from the world of verbs. Just like in English, past participles can also be used as adjectives in Spanish.

Here's a quick reminder on how to form the past participle:

1 Find the root of the verb by dropping the ending.

hablar → habl_
comer → com_
vivir → viv_

2 Add -ADO for -AR verbs and -IDO for -ER and -IR verbs.

habl + ado = hablado
com + ido = comido
viv + ido = vivido

Examples:

Este es Juan, recién llegado de sus vacaciones.

This is Juan, just back [arrived] from his vacation.

una vida bien vivida

a life well lived

When past participles are used as adjectives, they must agree (masculine vs. feminine, singular vs. plural) with their nouns:

la pareja recién casada the newly married couple
los platos preparados the prepared dishes
el viajero cansado the weary traveler

✦ Remember ✦

Agreement only occurs when past participles are used as adjectives. In the case of perfect tenses ( like Yo ya he comido, I have already eaten), the past participle will always end in ‑O.