Past Participles

01

Forming Regular Past Participles

For most verbs, the past participle is formed by dropping the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and adding a new suffix.

• For -ar verbs, add -ado.
• For -er and -ir verbs, add -ido.

• falar → falado

  spoken

• comer → comido

  eaten

• decidir → decidido

  decided

02

Common Irregular Past Participles

Many frequently used verbs have irregular past participles that do not follow the standard pattern. These forms must be memorized.

Here are some of the most common ones:

• abrir → aberto (opened)
• dizer → dito (said)
• escrever → escrito (written)
• fazer → feito (done/made)
• pôr → posto (put)
• ver → visto (seen)
• vir → vindo (come)

• Eu não tinha visto sua mensagem.

  I hadn't seen your message.

• O trabalho já está feito.

  The work is already done.

03

Using Participles in Compound Tenses

Past participles are used with the auxiliary verbs ter (to have) or haver (to have) to form perfect tenses, which describe actions that occurred in the past. In Brazilian Portuguese, ter is much more common in everyday conversation.

When used with ter or haver, the past participle is invariable. It always ends in -o and does not change to agree with the subject's gender or number.

• Ela tem estudado bastante para a prova.

  She has studied a lot for the test.

• Nós tínhamos comprado os ingressos com antecedência.

  We had bought the tickets in advance.

• Eles já tinham saído quando chegamos.

  They had already left when we arrived.

04

Using Participles as Adjectives and in the Passive Voice

When a past participle is used as an adjective or with the verbs ser (to be) or estar (to be) to form the passive voice, it must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes.

• Masculine singular: -o
• Feminine singular: -a
• Masculine plural: -os
• Feminine plural: -as

• O livro foi escrito em 1980.

  The book was written in 1980.

• A carta foi escrita em 1980.

  The letter was written in 1980.

• Os relatórios estão terminados.

  The reports are finished.

• As portas estão fechadas.

  The doors are closed.

05

Verbs with Two Past Participles

A small group of verbs has two past participle forms: a regular one (ending in -ado/-ido) and an irregular one.

• The regular form is used with the auxiliary verbs ter and haver.
• The irregular form is used with the auxiliary verbs ser and estar, and when it acts as an adjective.

Common verbs with dual participles include:

• aceitar: aceitado / aceito
• pagar: pagado / pago
• ganhar: ganhado / ganho
• imprimir: imprimido / impresso

• Eu tinha pagado a conta.

  I had paid the bill. (with ter)

• A conta foi paga.

  The bill was paid. (with ser)

• Ele já tinha imprimido os documentos.

  He had already printed the documents. (with ter)

• O documento impresso está na mesa.

  The printed document is on the table. (as an adjective)