Los participios pasivos (II): functions of the participle
articiples are, in Spanish, along with the gerund and the infinitive, one of the three non-conjugated forms of the verb. As we have seen in the article about the pretérito perfecto, participles are part of the compound tenses in the language, but they also serve other functions. Thus, they are also used as adjectives, as part of the passive voice and as nouns. In this article, we will briefly discuss each of these functions.
Participles in Compound Tenses.
Compound tenses in Spanish are formed with the verb haber as the auxiliary verb, conjugated, plus the participle of the main verb. We have already seen examples of the formation of the pretérito perfecto: it is formed with haber conjugated in the present indicative, plus the participle of the main verb.
Esta mañana he desayunado galletas. (This morning I have had cookies for breakfast).
There are more compound tenses in the Spanish language, both in the indicative and subjunctive moods. Let’s look at examples of some of them:
Indicative Mood:
Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto: This tense is used to describe an action that occurred before another action that is also in the past. It is formed with the verb haber in the pretérito imperfecto, plus the participle of the main verb. The other action is introduced in the pretérito indefinido.
Yo ya había salido cuando llegaste. (I had already left when you arrived).
Futuro Perfecto: This tense is used to introduce a future action that will occur before another future action. It is formed with the verb haber conjugated in the simple future, plus the participle of the main verb.
Para Diciembre ya habrás terminado las clases. (By December, you will have finished the classes).
Subjunctive Mood:
Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto de Subjuntivo: This tense is used to express subjective perceptions or wishes, among other things. It is formed with the verb haber in the present subjunctive, plus the participle of the main verb.
Espero que él haya aprobado el examen. (I hope that he has passed the exam).
It is not the goal of this article to review all the compound tenses in Spanish, but to give some examples of the use of the participle. Therefore, it is important to clarify that the ones listed above are not all the compound tenses in the language, but it is worth mentioning that the compound tenses in Spanish follow this rule: they are formed with haber in its corresponding conjugation, and the participle of the main verb.
Participles as Adjectives.
Another function of participles is to function as adjectives. In this case, they describe or qualify the noun, so they agree with it in grammatical gender and number.
El auto está roto. The car is broken.
Mi amiga está muy emocionada. (My friend is very excited).
These adjectives describe the state or condition resulting from the action of the verb from which they come, and they behave grammatically like any other adjective in Spanish.
Participles in the Passive Voice.
In the passive voice, the grammatical subject receives the action instead of performing it, and the agent, that is, the one performing the action, may or may not be stated. Specifically, in periphrastic passive constructions in Spanish, the verb ser is conjugated and a participle is used. In these types of constructions, the participle also agrees in grammatical gender and number with the grammatical subject.
Las notas fueron escritas (por el jefe). (The notes were written (by the boss).)
El auto es reparado (por el mecánico). (The car is repaired (by the mechanic).)
Participles as Nouns.
Participles can be turned into nouns to designate a person or thing related to the action of the verb. As nouns, they have grammatical gender and number.
Los nacidos entre 1981 y 1996 son considerados millennials. (Those born between 1981 and 1996 are considered millennials).
We have reached the end of the article. While participles can have some other functions in the language, the ones I have summarized here are the main ones. I hope these lines have been helpful to you. Thank you for reading!
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