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Lesson 6: Participles of Regular Verbs
Each verb has two participles: a present participle and a past participle.
- The Spanish present participle is equivalent to the English –ing ending.
- The Spanish past participle is equivalent to the English –ed, -en, etc. endings.
Note: Some verbs that are regular have irregular participles (see some irregular participles below).
| VERB | PRESENT PARTICIPLE | PAST PARTICIPLE |
 hablar to speak |
Drop the –ar and add: -ando hablando = speaking |
Drop the –ar and add: -ado hablado = spoken |
 comer to eat |
Drop the –er and add: -iendo comiendo = eating |
Drop the –er and add: -ido comido = eaten |
 vivir to live |
Drop the –ir and add: -iendo viviendo = living |
Drop the –ir and add: -ido vivido = lived |
Some Irregular Participles
| VERB | PRESENT PARTICIPLE | PAST PARTICIPLE |
| abrir (to open) | abriendo | abierto |
| escribir (to write) | escribiendo | escrito |
| leer (to read) | leyendo | leído |
Tenses that Use the Present Participle - Present Progressive and Past Progressive
Present Progressive
Present progressive is used to express what is happening at the moment. This tense is formed with the present tense of the verb estar and a present participle. Use it to emphasize what someone is doing right now (I am eating now).
| singular | plural |
| I = yo | nosotros = we |
| you (familiar) = tú | vosotros = you (familiar) |
| you = usted he = él she = ella |
ustedes = "you all" ellos = they ellas = they (feminine) |
| + Present Participle |
| ahora now |
Because this tense is used to express what is happening at the moment, ahora (now) is the "when" word used with this tense (whether stated or implied).
The audio sample below provides the correct Spanish pronunciation of the following sentences.
|
Hear Sample Sentences | |
| I am speaking now. | Yo estoy hablando ahora. |
| We are speaking. | Nosotros estamos hablando. |
| Who is speaking? | ¿Quién está hablando? |
| Juan is speaking. | Juan está hablando. |
| We are eating now. | Nosotros estamos comiendo ahora. |
| I am not eating now. | Yo no estoy comiendo ahora. |
| You guys are eating. | Ustedes están comiendo. |
| Are they eating now? | ¿Ellos están comiendo ahora? |
| Are you eating? | ¿Usted está comiendo? ¿Está usted comiendo? |
| Are you eating? (familiar) | ¿Tú estás comiendo? ¿Estás tú comiendo? |
Past Progressive
Past progressive is used to express what was happening in the past. This tense is formed with the imperfect tense of the verb estar and a present participle. Use it to indicate what someone was doing (I was reading).
| singular | plural |
| I = yo | nosotros = we |
| you (familiar) = tú | vosotros = you (familiar) |
| you = usted he = él she = ella |
ustedes = "you all" ellos = they ellas = they (feminine) |
| + Present Participle |
| la semana pasada last week |
ayer yesterday |
hace una hora an hour ago |
hace cinco minutos five minutes ago |
The audio sample below provides the correct Spanish pronunciation of the following sentences.
|
Hear Sample Sentences | |
| I was speaking. | Yo estaba hablando. |
| We were speaking. | Nosotros estábamos hablando. |
| Who was speaking? | ¿Quién estaba hablando? |
| Juan was speaking. | Juan estaba hablando. |
| We were eating. | Nosotros estábamos comiendo. |
| I was not eating. | Yo no estaba comiendo. |
| You guys were eating. | Ustedes estaban comiendo. |
| Were they eating? | ¿Ellos estaban comiendo? |
| Were you eating? | ¿Ellos estaban
comiendo? ¿Estaban ellos comiendo? |
| Were you eating? (familiar) | ¿Tú estabas
comiendo? ¿Estabas tú comiendo? |
Tenses that Use the Past Participle - Present Perfect Tense
The auxiliary verb haber is used with the past participle to form this tense. This tense functions similarly in English and Spanish (I have spoken, they have eaten, he has worked all day). The "have" in this tense is a form of haber (he, ha, hemos, han), which is used as the auxiliary.
| singular | plural |
| I = yo | nosotros = we |
| you (familiar) = tú | vosotros = you (familiar) |
| you = usted he = él she = ella |
ustedes = "you all" ellos = they ellas = they (feminine) |
| + Past Participle |
| siempre always |
nunca never |
todo el día all day |
The audio sample below provides the correct Spanish pronunciation of the following sentences.
|
Hear Sample Sentences | |
| I have spoken. | Yo he hablado. |
| I haven’t eaten. | Yo no he comido. |
| They have read the book. | Ellos han leído el libro. |
| He has worked all day. | Él ha trabajado todo el día. |
| She has never read the book. | Ella nunca ha leído el libro. |
| We have always lived here. | Nosotros siempre hemos vivido aquí. |
| We have never lived in Mexico. | Nosotros nunca hemos vivido en México. |
| Have you read the book? | ¿Usted ha leído el
libro? ¿Ha usted leído el libro? |
| Have you read the book? (familiar) | ¿Tú has leído el
libro? ¿Has tú leído el libro? |
| She has written a book. | Ella ha escrito un libro. |
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