Regular past participles as adjectives (-ado, -ido)

Regular Past Participles

To describe the physical condition of an object or person, you can often turn an action verb into an adjective by creating a past participle.

For regular verbs, the rules are simple:

  • Drop the -ar ending and add -ado (e.g., preparar becomes preparado).
  • Drop the -er or -ir ending and add -ido (e.g., partir becomes partido).

Because these participles describe a temporary physical state resulting from a past action, they are paired with the verb estar.

Since they function as adjectives, the -o ending changes to match the gender and number of the noun being described (-a, -os, -as).

When the manager does the inspection, everything is tidy.
Quando o gerente faz a inspeção, tudo está arrumado.
Your living room is not prepared for the inspection.
A vossa sala não está preparada para a inspeção.
The curtains are closed and the door is locked.
As cortinas estão fechadas e a porta está trancada.

Notice how -ir participles also adapt to the nouns they modify:

The window glass is broken!
O vidro da janela está partido!
The garage is not locked because the lock is broken.
A garagem não está trancada porque a fechadura está partida.