The past participle is formed in Spanish by adding -ado to the stem of regular -ar verbs and -ido to the stem of regular -er or -ir verbs: hablar > hablado; poder > podido; vivir > vivido, etc.
The past participle can often be used as an adjective (usually with
the verb estar). Then, it has four forms,
reflecting the number and gender
of the noun it describes:
El precio está confirmado. | The price is confirmed. |
La tarifa está confirmada. | The fare is confirmed. |
Los fondos están confirmados. | The funds are confirmed. |
Las reservaciones están confirmadas. | The reservations are confirmed. |
The past participle can also be used with the verb ser
to construct the passive voice: La comida fue preparada por mamá
(æThe food was prepared by MomÆ). Again, the past participle reflects number
and gender of the noun it describes. The passive construction with ser
+ past participle is not as common in Spanish as it is in English. The
active voice should be used whenever possible: Mamá preparó
la comida (æMom made the foodÆ).