In Brazilian Portuguese, the past participle is a form of a verb that generally ends in -ado or -ido, as in falado meaning talked or bebido meaning drunk. Past participles are used as adjectives, in the passive voice, and to form the perfect tense.
Past participles can function as adjectives or as verbs in the passive voice or in compound tenses, but more generally they represent a completed or finished action.
- Adjective:Pedro é muito calado.Translation: Pedro is very quiet.
- Passive voice:O bolo foi feito ontem.Translation: The cake was made yesterday.
- Compound tenses:Ele tem aprendido muito.Translation: He has learned a lot.
In this post we’ll first go through the forms of the past participle, then we’ll cover how to use this form of the verb. Are you curious about why some verbs, like pagar meaning to pay, have two past participles, one regular, one irregular? Keep reading this post to find out more!
How to form the past participle in Brazilian Portuguese?
The past participle is formed by removing the -ar / -er / -ir ending from the infinitive of the verb and adding -ado or -ido in its place. Take a look at the chart of regular past participles below:
| Verb Group | Rule | Infinitive | Participle |
|---|---|---|---|
-ar verbs | -ar → -ado | cantar meaning to sing | cantado |
estudar meaning to study | estudado | ||
-er verbs | -er → -ido | comer meaning to eat | comido |
viver meaning to live | vivido | ||
-ir verbs | -ir → -ido | partir meaning to leave | partido |
dividir meaning to divide | dividido |
As you can notice, all participles of -ar verbs end in -ado, and the -er and -ir verbs end in -ido. However, there are some verbs in Brazilian Portuguese that have irregular participles. Let’s take a look at them below.
Which are the irregular past participles in Brazilian Portuguese?
Some -er and -ir verbs in Brazilian Portuguese have irregular past participles, and the most common of these are:
| Infinitive | Participle |
|---|---|
dizer meaning to say | dito |
fazer meaning to do, to make | feito |
escrever meaning to write | escrito |
pôr meaning to put | posto |
ver meaning to see | visto |
vir meaning to come | vindo |
abrir meaning to open | aberto |
cobrir meaning to cover | coberto |
All the derivatives from these verbs follow the same irregular pattern. For example:
desfazer meaning to undo → desfeito meaning undone
In addition, there are some verbs that have two participles, one regular and one irregular. Let’s see more below!
Which verbs have two past participles?
Some other verbs in Brazilian Portuguese have a double participle, meaning that these verbs have both a regular and an irregular participle:
| Infinitive | Regular Participle | Irregular Participle |
|---|---|---|
aceitar meaning to accept | aceitado | aceito |
entregar meaning to deliver | entregado | entregue |
gastar meaning to spend | gastado | gasto |
eleger meaning to elect | elegido | eleito |
suspender meaning to suspend | suspendido | suspenso |
exprimir meaning to express | exprimido | expresso |
extinguir meaning to extinguish | extinguido | extinto |
Check out this chart of verbs with double participles for more examples of verbs like these.
So when should you use the regular form and when should you use the irregular one?
When a Brazilian Portuguese verb has a double past participle:
The regular participle is used with the auxiliaries ter or haver meaning to have.
Emanuel tinha aceitado o acordo.Translation: Emanuel had accepted the agreement.The irregular participle is used in other cases, such as with the auxiliaries ser meaning to be, estar meaning to be, ficar meaning to be, to stay, etc., or when the participle is not accompanied by any auxiliary.
- O acordo foi aceito.Translation: The agreement was accepted.
- Aceito o acordo, Emanuel pode começar o trabalho.Translation: Once the agreement was accepted, Emanuel could start the job.
Are you curious to know more about the uses of the past participles? Keep on reading this post, because we will talk about this below.
How to use the past participle in Brazilian Portuguese?
The past participle in Brazilian Portuguese is used in three main ways:
as an adjective
in the passive voice
in compound perfect tenses
Let’s take a look at each.
How to use the past participle as an adjective?
The past participle can work as an adjective that describes a noun that the action of the verb has affected:
When the past participle functions as an adjective, it needs to agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the noun it refers to. Compare:
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Carlos é um rapaz muito animado. Translation: Carlos is a very lively guy. | Maria é uma menina muito animada. Translation: Maria is a very lively girl. |
| Plural | Carlos e Maria são muito animados. Translation: Carlos and Maria are very lively. | Maria e Rebecca são muito animadas. Translation: Maria and Rebecca are very lively. |
Let’s look at some common constructions in which you will use the past participle as an adjective in Brazilian Portuguese.
Using the past participle after ‘depois de’ and ‘além de’
The past participle can be used after depois de meaning after and além de meaning besides/in addition to.
- Depois de terminado o trabalho, os funcionários receberam folga.Translation: After finishing the work, the employees were given time off.
- Além de concluída, a tarefa também já foi entregue.Translation: In addition to being completed, the task has also been delivered.
In these cases, the participle is an adjective, so it agrees in gender and number with the nouns trabalho meaning work and tarefa meaning task, homework.
Using the past participle in a reduced clause
The past participle of the verb is used in reduced clauses, which can sometimes replace subordinate clauses:
In the example above deixada no quintal meaning left in the yard is a reduced clause, replacing the full subordinate clause, que foi deixada no quintal meaning that was left in the yard. In this sentence deixada works as an adjective agreeing with the feminine and singular noun sujeira meaning dirt.
Using past participles in the absolute construction
Past participles are also used in absolute constructions, which is a type of subordinate clause that acts like an adverb. Past participles in an absolute construction are typically placed before the main clause and have to agree with the noun that follows, as in the example below:
The participle terminada meaning finished agrees with the noun it describes, tarefa meaning task and the whole phrase terminada tarefa and it is used to express an event prior to that of the main clause.
How to use past participles in the passive voice?
The passive voice in Brazilian Portuguese is formed with the auxiliary verb ser followed by a verb in its past participle form. In this case the past participle has to agree in gender and number with the noun it refers to:
How to use the past participle in compound perfect tenses?
All compound perfect tenses in Brazilian Portuguese are formed by combining the auxiliaries ter or haver meaning to have with a past participle. In this case, the past participle is invariable, and always occurs in the masculine singular form.
- Future perfect:Não se preocupe, eles terão chegado a tempo de te encontrar.Translation: Don't worry, they will have arrived in time to see you.
- Perfect infinitive:Eles já deveriam ter chegado.Translation: They should have already arrived.
- Present perfect subjunctive:Eu espero que você tenha gostado do jantar.Translation: I hope that you liked the dinner.
Summary
In this post, we talked about the form and use of the past participle. We saw that…
Regular past participles are formed by removing the -ar, -er, -ir from the infinitive form of the verb and adding -ado or -ido:
comprar meaning to buy → comprado meaning bought
Irregular past participles have an unpredictable form and must be memorized:
dizer meaning to say → dito meaning said
Some verbs have “double participles,” meaning that they have two participle forms: one regular and one irregular:
salvar meaning save → salvado / salvo meaning saved
Past participles can be used:
as adjectives → here the participle agrees with the noun it describes
O jardim do meu vizinho é muito bem cuidado!Translation: My neighbor's garden is very well maintained!in the passive voice → here the participle agrees with the subject
- A casa foi comprada há muito tempo.Translation: The house was bought a long time ago.
in compound perfect tenses → here the participle is invariable
Ele tinha comprado uma bela casa.Translation: He had bought a pretty house.
Now that you’ve read this post, why don’t you practice how to form and use the past participle in Brazilian Portuguese with some activities?
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