A small set of very common verbs refuse the tidy -ado / -ido pattern. The good news is that the list is short and the verbs are so frequent that the forms stick fast — you'll meet visto, feito, and dito constantly. The bad news is the usual: there's no rule, you simply learn them. This page gives you the core list, the logic where any exists, and a first look at the verbs that keep both a regular and irregular form.
The core irregular participles
These are the ones you'll use every day. Learn them as fixed vocabulary.
| Verb | Meaning | Participle | (Not) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ver | to see | visto | |
| fazer | to do, make | feito | |
| dizer | to say | dito | |
| escrever | to write | escrito | |
| pôr | to put | posto | |
| abrir | to open | aberto | |
| cobrir | to cover | coberto | |
| vir | to come | vindo |
Notice the patterns hiding in there. Verbs in -screver / -crever give -scrito / -crito (so descrever → descrito, inscrever → inscrito). Compounds of pôr follow it (compor → composto, propor → proposto, dispor → disposto). Compounds of abrir and cobrir follow them (encobrir → encoberto, descobrir → descoberto). So the eight forms above actually unlock dozens of related verbs.
Você viu o que ele postou? Eu ainda não tinha visto.
Did you see what he posted? I hadn't seen it yet.
O relatório foi feito às pressas e está cheio de erros.
The report was done in a rush and is full of mistakes.
Tudo que foi dito na reunião ficou registrado em ata.
Everything that was said in the meeting was recorded in the minutes.
A loja já está aberta desde as oito.
The store has been open since eight.
A note on vindo
Vindo is doubly irregular: it's both the past participle of vir (to come) and its gerund. Only context distinguishes them.
Ele tinha vindo de longe só para te ver.
He had come from far away just to see you. (participle — after tinha)
Estou vindo para casa agora.
I'm coming home now. (gerund — after estou)
If the form sits after ter/haver, it's the participle; after estar (and in progressive constructions), it's the gerund. The compounds of vir — provir, advir — behave the same way (provindo, advindo).
Verbs with two participles
Several verbs keep both a regular form (in -ado / -ido) and a shorter irregular one. These are called particípios duplos (double participles), and they include some very common words:
| Verb | Meaning | Regular | Irregular |
|---|---|---|---|
| ganhar | to win, earn | ganhado | ganho |
| gastar | to spend | gastado | gasto |
| pagar | to pay | pagado | pago |
| aceitar | to accept | aceitado | aceito |
| entregar | to deliver | entregado | entregue |
| pegar | to grab, catch | pegado | pego |
The traditional, prescriptive rule splits the two forms by auxiliary:
- Use the regular form (ganhado, gastado, pagado) with ter (the compound tenses).
- Use the irregular form (ganho, gasto, pago, aceito, entregue, pego) with ser / estar (passive and state).
A conta já foi paga.
The bill has already been paid. (passive — irregular pago)
Eles tinham pagado a conta antes de eu chegar.
They had paid the bill before I arrived. (compound — prescriptively pagado)
The Brazilian reality: ganho, pago, gasto are taking over
Here's the honest part. In modern Brazilian Portuguese, the short irregular forms have largely won. In everyday speech — and increasingly in writing — Brazilians say tinha ganho, tinha pago, tinha gasto even after ter, ignoring the prescriptive ganhado / pagado / gastado. The longer regular forms now sound stiff or even old-fashioned to many native ears.
Nunca tinha ganho tanto dinheiro na vida.
I'd never earned so much money in my life. (BR colloquial — ganho after ter, though prescriptively ganhado)
A gente já tinha gasto tudo antes do fim do mês.
We'd already spent everything before the end of the month. (BR colloquial — gasto after ter)
The full treatment of which form to choose, and the special cases of aceito, entregue, preso, and morto, is on Double Past Participles.
How English compares
English has its own irregular participles (see → seen, do → done, write → written), so the concept is familiar — you already accept that do doesn't become doed. What's new is twofold. First, Portuguese irregular participles agree in passive and adjectival use: visto / vista / vistos / vistas, where English seen is frozen. Second, the double-participle situation has no English parallel; English never offers you a choice between gotten and got governed by which auxiliary you used (the American/British gotten/got split is regional, not grammatical).
As fotos foram vistas por milhares de pessoas.
The photos were seen by thousands of people. (irregular participle agreeing: vistas)
Common Mistakes
❌ Eu tenho fazido tudo sozinho.
Incorrect — fazer is irregular; the participle is feito.
✅ Eu tenho feito tudo sozinho.
I've been doing everything by myself.
❌ Ele tinha dizido a verdade.
Incorrect — dizer's participle is dito, never dizido.
✅ Ele tinha dito a verdade.
He had told the truth.
❌ A janela foi abrida pelo vento.
Incorrect — abrir's participle is aberto/aberta, not abrida.
✅ A janela foi aberta pelo vento.
The window was opened by the wind.
❌ As cartas foram escrevidas à mão.
Incorrect — escrever's participle is escrito/escritas.
✅ As cartas foram escritas à mão.
The letters were written by hand.
❌ Eu tinha vido te visitar.
Incorrect — vir's participle is vindo, not vido.
✅ Eu tinha vindo te visitar.
I had come to visit you.
Key Takeaways
- A short core list — visto, feito, dito, escrito, posto, aberto, coberto, vindo, ganho — must be memorized; there's no rule.
- Many compounds inherit the irregular form (descrito, composto, descoberto), so the core list unlocks dozens more verbs.
- Vindo is both participle and gerund; context decides.
- For double participles, BR strongly favors the short forms (ganho, pago, gasto) even where prescription wants the long ones.
Now practice Portuguese
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- The Past Participle in BR PortugueseA2 — What the past participle (particípio passado) is, how it's formed, and its three jobs — compound tenses, passive voice, and adjective — including the crucial rule that it agrees in passive and adjectival use but not after ter.
- Regular Past Participles (-ado, -ido)A2 — How to build the regular past participle in Brazilian Portuguese — -ar verbs take -ado, -er and -ir verbs take -ido — with pronunciation, the four agreement forms, and plenty of examples.
- Double Past Participles (chego/chegado, ganho/ganhado)B1 — The Brazilian Portuguese verbs that keep two past participles — a regular one for ter and an irregular one for ser/estar — and how that prescriptive split is breaking down in modern speech.
- Past Participle as AdjectiveA2 — How Brazilian Portuguese past participles work as adjectives — agreeing in gender and number with the noun they describe — and how recognizing them as participles expands your vocabulary.
- Forming the Pretérito Perfeito CompostoA2 — How to build the Brazilian present perfect: present-tense 'ter' plus an invariant past participle that never agrees with the subject.
- Ser-Passive (Formal Passive Voice)B1 — How to form the analytic passive with ser plus past participle, why the participle agrees with the subject, and why Brazilians rarely use it in speech.