Spanish: Using Participles as Adverbs and Adjectives?

Question

Hey! The day that we learned about adverbs and adjectives as participles in Spanish, I was sick. And even though she gave me the worksheets and all, I don't quite understand it. I would appreciate all help! Thank you

Answer 1

To make a verb a participle do this:

Take off the ending
hablar - ar = habl
comer - er = com
vivir - ir = viv

Add the new ending which makes it a participle. The endings are -ado for -ar verbs and -ido for -er/-ir verbs.

hablado
comido
vivido

When used as an adjective it has to agree with the word it is describing.

If I want to talk about the "closed book" I say

El libro cerrado.

"the closed books"

Los libros cerrados. (add an S because books are now plural).

"the closed door"

la puerta cerrada. (Now an a to make it feminine)

"the closed doors"

las puertas cerradas. (now feminine and plural).

Let me know if there are more questions or if this does not clear it up; just email me.

Answer 2

This is difficult to explain except for using specific examples. So, for example, the participle "hablado" (spoken) in its verb form might be, for example, "yo he hablado" (I have spoken). The participle "hablado" can be used on its own as an adjective since it means spoken. You can say "las palabras habladas" (the spoken words). Remember to make the adjective agree in gender and number, which is why the feminine "palabras" is modified by the feminine plural adjective "habladas." I hope this helps. It's really not a hard concept once you understand it, but for an English-speaker it is new and different since we don't use it exactly the same way in our language.

Answer 3

nido has a very good answer.

in spanish, past participles function as two parts of speech: verbs, and adjectives. the same is true in english. for example, you can say "i have *broken* the window," (verb) and "the window is *broken*." (adjective)

remember that when used as a verb (haber + past participle) you do not change it to fit the gender or number. when it is used as an adjective (for example estar + past participle) you MUST make it agree with the gender and number of the subject.

any questions?