The Past Participle and the
Present Perfect Indicative
(El participio pasado y el presente
perfecto de indicativo)
He limpiado el virus de
su computadora y he
instalado un programa
antivirus.
How the past participle is formed
For -ar verbs:
Start with the infinitive . . . remove the verb ending . . .
and add ado.
cerrado
ar
For -er and -ir verbs:
Start with the infinitive . . . remove the verb ending . . .
and add ido.
vend er
ido
recibido
ir
How the past participle is formed
The past participle is used in Spanish and English as an
adjective or as part of the perfect tenses. In English, it is
usually the -ed or -en form of the verb.
tomar
tomado (taken)
comer
comido (eaten)
vivir
vivido (lived)
An accent mark is used when a past participle has the
combination of vowels ai, ei, or oi.
creer creído believed
leer leído read
oír
oído
heard
traer traído brought
How the past participle is formed
The following verbs have irregular past participles.
abrir
cubrir
decir
abierto
cubierto
dicho
opened
covered
said
descubrir descubierto discovered
escribir escrito
written
hacer
hecho
done; made
morir
poner
romper
muerto
puesto
roto
dead
put
broken
ver
volver
visto
vuelto
seen
returned
The past participle used as a verb
The present perfect in English and Spanish is considered a
compound tense because its forms require two verbs. In English,
the present perfect is formed with the present tense of the auxiliary
verb to have + past participle. In Spanish, the present perfect is
formed with the present tense of the verb haber + past participle.
to have
Past participle
I have
yo
you have
tú
he, she has, you have taken él, ella, Ud.
eaten nosotros/as
we have
lived
you (pl.) have
vosotros/as
ellos/as, Uds.
they, you (pl.) have
haber Past participle
he
has
ha
hemos
habéis
han
tomado
comido
vivido
The past participle used as a verb
In general, the present perfect is used to refer to a past
action that is perceived as having some bearing on the
present.
¿Ya has usado la impresora?
Have you already used the printer?
Estoy buscando el cajero automático. ¿Lo
has visto?
I’m looking for the automatic teller. Have
you seen it?
The past participle used as a verb
The auxiliary verb haber agrees with the subject of the
sentence. The past participle, however, is invariable
when used in the perfect tense. It always ends in o.
Mi jefe me ha dado un teléfono celular muy
bueno.
My boss has given me a very good cell phone.
Marisa ha preparado la hoja electrónica.
Marisa has prepared the spreadsheet.
The past participle used as a verb
The auxiliary verb haber and the past participle cannot
be separated by another word. Object pronouns and
negative words are always placed before haber.
No la he preparado.
I haven’t prepared it.
¿La has abierto?
Have you opened it?
The past participle used as a verb
It is important to remember that the present perfect in
English is often contracted, particularly in everyday
speech. Such contractions do not exist in Spanish.
Has leído el informe, ¿verdad?
You’ve read the report, right?
Sí, lo he leído varias veces.
Yes, I’ve read it several times.
The past participle used as a verb
The verb haber is not interchangeable with tener. Haber
means to have only when used as an auxiliary verb with
the past participle. Tener means to have or to own in the
sense of possession.
Julia tiene muchos amigos en esa empresa.
Julia has many friends in that company.
¿Has tenido experiencia en hacer diseños?
Have you had experience in doing designs?
To have just . . .
The present tense of the verb acabar, to finish, is
used with de + infinitive in order to describe events
that have just happened.
Acabamos de ver la videoconferencia.
We have just seen the videoconference.
Acaban de borrar el archivo.
They have just erased the file.
The past participle used as an adjective
In both English and Spanish, the past participle may be
used as an adjective to modify a noun. The Spanish
past participle used as an adjective agrees in number
and gender with the noun it modifies.
Vimos las conferencias grabadas por nuestro
supervisor.
We saw the conferences recorded by our
supervisor.
Hay muchos programas escritos en Visual
Basic.
There are many programs written in Visual
Basic.
The past participle used as an adjective
The verb estar may be used with the past participle to
describe a state or condition resulting from a previous
action. When used with estar, the past participle is an
adjective and agrees in number and gender with the
noun it modifies.
El libro está cerrado.
La puerta está cerrada.
Los escritorios están vendidos.
Las computadoras están vendidas.
FIN