Irregular Past Participles in Spanish

Overview

While most Spanish verbs form their past participles by simply adding -ado or -ido to the stem, a handful of very common verbs break this pattern with irregular forms. These irregular participles -- words like hecho (done), dicho (said), and escrito (written) -- appear constantly in everyday Spanish because they belong to some of the most frequently used verbs in the language.

At the CEFR A2 level, memorizing these irregular forms is essential because you cannot form the present perfect (or any compound tense) without them. The good news is that there are only about a dozen truly common irregular participles, and many of them follow recognizable patterns that make them easier to learn.

How It Works

The irregular past participles

Infinitive	Regular form (wrong)	Irregular participle	English
hacer	hacido	hecho	done/made
decir	decido	dicho	said/told
escribir	escribido	escrito	written
ver	veido	visto	seen
poner	ponido	puesto	put/placed
volver	volvido	vuelto	returned
abrir	abrido	abierto	opened
morir	morido	muerto	died/dead
romper	rompido	roto	broken
cubrir	cubrido	cubierto	covered
resolver	resolvido	resuelto	resolved
satisfacer	satisfacido	satisfecho	satisfied

Patterns among irregular participles

Pattern	Verbs	Ending
-cho	hacer → hecho, decir → dicho, satisfacer → satisfecho	-echo / -icho
-to	escribir → escrito, ver → visto, poner → puesto, volver → vuelto, romper → roto, resolver → resuelto	-to / -sto / -lto
-erto	abrir → abierto, cubrir → cubierto, morir → muerto	-ierto / -uerto

Compound verbs follow the same pattern

If a verb is formed from an irregular participle verb, it uses the same irregular form:

Base verb	Compound verb	Participle
hacer → hecho	deshacer → deshecho	undone
escribir → escrito	describir → descrito	described
poner → puesto	componer → compuesto	composed
volver → vuelto	devolver → devuelto	returned (an item)
cubrir → cubierto	descubrir → descubierto	discovered

Using irregular participles in compound tenses

They work exactly like regular participles -- they do not change for gender or number in compound tenses:

• He hecho los deberes. -- I have done the homework.
• Ella ha escrito una carta. -- She has written a letter.
• Hemos visto la película. -- We have seen the film.

Participles as adjectives

When used as adjectives (outside compound tenses), participles DO agree in gender and number:

• La puerta está abierta. -- The door is open.
• Los vasos están rotos. -- The glasses are broken.
• Las cartas están escritas. -- The letters are written.

Examples in Context

Spanish	English	Note
He hecho los deberes.	I've done the homework.	compound tense, invariable
Ha escrito una carta.	He/She has written a letter.	compound tense
Hemos visto la película.	We've seen the film.	compound tense
Han dicho la verdad.	They've told the truth.	compound tense
¿Has puesto la mesa?	Have you set the table?	compound tense
Nunca he roto nada.	I've never broken anything.	compound tense
Ha vuelto a casa.	He/She has returned home.	compound tense
Han abierto una nueva tienda.	They've opened a new store.	compound tense
La ventana está abierta.	The window is open.	adjective, feminine
Los platos están rotos.	The plates are broken.	adjective, masculine plural

Common Mistakes

Using the regular form instead of the irregular

• Wrong: He hacido los deberes.
• Right: He hecho los deberes.
• Why: Hacer has an irregular participle hecho. The regular form hacido does not exist.

Making the participle agree in compound tenses

• Wrong: Ella ha hecha los deberes.
• Right: Ella ha hecho los deberes.
• Why: In compound tenses (with haber), the participle never changes form, even if the subject is feminine or plural.

Forgetting agreement when used as an adjective

• Wrong: La puerta está abierto.
• Right: La puerta está abierta.
• Why: When a participle functions as an adjective (with estar, not haber), it must agree in gender and number with the noun.

Practice Tips

• Learn them as vocabulary pairs. Study infinitive-participle pairs together: hacer-hecho, decir-dicho, escribir-escrito. Flashcards work well for this because there are a limited number to memorize.

• Use them in daily sentences. Describe what you have done today using as many irregular participles as possible: He hecho la cama. He escrito un email. He visto las noticias. He dicho la verdad.

• Notice the patterns. Group them by ending type (-cho, -to, -erto). When you encounter a new compound verb (like descubrir), you can predict its participle (descubierto) based on the base verb (cubrir → cubierto).

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Perfect -- The compound tense where you will use these participles most