Regular past participles in Spanish are refreshingly simple. There are two endings: one for -ar verbs and one for everything else. Once you see a few dozen examples, the pattern will feel automatic.
The rule
- -ar verbs → replace the -ar with -ado
- -er verbs → replace the -er with -ido
- -ir verbs → replace the -ir with -ido
That is it. -er and -ir verbs share the exact same participle ending, which cuts the amount of memorization almost in half.
| Infinitive | Type | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| hablar | -ar | hablado |
| trabajar | -ar | trabajado |
| estudiar | -ar | estudiado |
| caminar | -ar | caminado |
| cantar | -ar | cantado |
| comer | -er | comido |
| beber | -er | bebido |
| aprender | -er | aprendido |
| correr | -er | corrido |
| vivir | -ir | vivido |
| dormir | -ir | dormido |
| salir | -ir | salido |
| partir | -ir | partido |
Examples in the present perfect
Ya hemos comido, gracias.
We have already eaten, thank you.
¿Has bebido suficiente agua hoy?
Have you drunk enough water today?
Notice how clean the pattern is: take the infinitive, chop the ending, add -ado or -ido. You can form the participle of most Spanish verbs without looking anything up.
The vowel-stem accent rule
There is one small complication. When an -er or -ir verb has a stem ending in a vowel, the -ido ending would create an unstable vowel cluster. Spanish solves this by adding a written accent to the í in -ido.
| Infinitive | Stem | Participle |
|---|---|---|
| leer | le- | leído |
| creer | cre- | creído |
| traer | tra- | traído |
| caer | ca- | caído |
| oír | o- | oído |
| poseer | pose- | poseído |
| reír | re- | reído |
Without the accent, Spanish pronunciation rules would merge the two vowels into a diphthong and break the word. The accent tells the reader: these two vowels belong to separate syllables. Say le-í-do, not lei-do.
He leído ese libro tres veces.
I have read that book three times.
Hemos oído muchas historias sobre ese pueblo.
We have heard many stories about that town.
Me he caído de la bicicleta.
I have fallen off the bicycle.
What about -uir verbs?
Verbs ending in -uir (like construir, destruir, incluir) do not take the accent, because the u + i already forms a diphthong and the stress naturally falls on the i.
| Infinitive | Participle |
|---|---|
| construir | construido |
| destruir | destruido |
| incluir | incluido |
| contribuir | contribuido |
Han construido un edificio enorme en el centro.
They have built a huge building downtown.
Also note that -guir verbs (like seguir) follow the normal pattern: seguir → seguido, no accent required.
No agreement in compound tenses
Remember from the formation page: in compound tenses with haber, the participle never agrees with the subject. It stays in the masculine singular form no matter what:
Ellas han trabajado muchísimo este mes.
They (f.) have worked a lot this month.
Not trabajadas, even though the subject is feminine plural. Agreement only happens when the participle is used as an adjective:
- la carta escrita (the written letter) — adjective, agrees
- He escrito la carta. (I have written the letter) — compound tense, no agreement
Quick drill
Turn each infinitive into its participle and then into a yo present perfect form:
- trabajar → trabajado → he trabajado
- comer → comido → he comido
- vivir → vivido → he vivido
- leer → leído → he leído
- oír → oído → he oído
Most Spanish participles are regular, but an important group is not. Continue to irregular past participles for the ones you cannot derive by rule.
Related Topics
- Formation (Haber + Past Participle)A2 — The present perfect in Spanish is built from the present tense of haber plus the past participle of the main verb.
- Irregular Past ParticiplesB1 — The dozen or so common verbs whose past participles do not follow the regular -ado/-ido pattern.
- Usage (Experience, Recent Past)A2 — When to reach for the present perfect — life experience, recent past, and the connection to the present moment.