Past Participles

01

Forming Regular Past Participles

The ending of a regular past participle depends on the verb's conjugation group.

-ar verbs: Replace the -ar ending with -at.

• parlar → parlat

  to speak → spoken

• cantar → cantat

  to sing → sung

• comprar → comprat

  to buy → bought

-er verbs: Replace the -er ending with -ut.

• beure → begut

  to drink → drunk

• vendre → venut

  to sell → sold

• conèixer → conegut

  to know → known

-ir verbs: Replace the -ir ending with -it.

• dormir → dormit

  to sleep → slept

• servir → servit

  to serve → served

• sentir → sentit

  to feel → felt

02

Common Irregular Past Participles

Many frequently used verbs have irregular past participles that must be memorized.

• obrir → obert (to open → opened)
• cobrir → cobert (to cover → covered)
• dir → dit (to say → said)
• escriure → escrit (to write → written)
• fer → fet (to do/make → done/made)
• morir → mort (to die → died)
• prendre → pres (to take → taken)
• resoldre → resolt (to resolve → resolved)
• veure → vist (to see → seen)
• viure → viscut (to live → lived)

03

Using Past Participles with 'Haver'

To form perfect tenses, such as the present perfect (pretèrit perfet), combine the present tense of haver (to have) with the past participle. This tense describes a recently completed action or an action with relevance to the present.

When used with haver, the past participle is invariable. It always uses the masculine singular form (ending in -at, -ut, -it, or the irregular base form).

• He menjat pa.

  I have eaten bread.

• La meva germana ha escrit dues cartes.

  My sister has written two letters.

• Hem vist els nostres amics.

  We have seen our friends.

04

Using Past Participles as Adjectives

When a past participle is used to describe a noun, it functions as an adjective. In this case, it must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies.

The endings change as follows:

• Masculine singular: -at, -ut, -it (e.g., tancat)
• Feminine singular: -ada, -uda, -ida (e.g., tancada)
• Masculine plural: -ats, -uts, -its (e.g., tancats)
• Feminine plural: -ades, -udes, -ides (e.g., tancades)

Irregular participles that end in a consonant also change for gender and number.

• obert (m. sg.), oberta (f. sg.), oberts (m. pl.), obertes (f. pl.)

These adjectival participles often follow the verbs ser or estar.

• El llibre està escrit en català.

  The book is written in Catalan.

• La porta està tancada.

  The door is closed.

• Els exercicis estan fets.

  The exercises are done.

• Les finestres estan obertes.

  The windows are open.

05

State vs. Passive Action: 'Estar' vs. 'Ser'

Both estar and ser can be followed by a past participle, but they convey different meanings.

Use estar + past participle to describe the state or result of a completed action.

• La carta està escrita.

  The letter is written. (It is finished and exists in a written state.)

• El sopar està preparat.

  The dinner is prepared. (It is ready to be eaten.)

Use ser + past participle to form the passive voice, which focuses on the action being performed on the subject. It often specifies who performed the action using the preposition per.

• La carta va ser escrita per la Maria.

  The letter was written by Maria. (Focuses on the act of writing.)

• El sopar serà preparat pel cuiner.

  The dinner will be prepared by the cook. (Focuses on the act of preparing.)