Past Participle in Portuguese

In Portuguese, we use the Past Participle to form perfect tenses, the passive voice, and also as adjectives.

In what follows, I’ll walk you through the Portuguese Past Participle in more detail. Read on.

Past Participles and Their Verb Forms

Regular Past Participles

Generally, the Past Participle is formed by replacing the suffixes -ar, -er, and -ir of the infinitive verb forms with -ado or -ido. Here’s one example for each conjugation group:

*-ar*	-er	-ir
Filmar (film)	Mexer (stir)	Partir (depart)
*Filmado*	*Mexido*	*Partido*

🔎 Learn more about regular conjugation and conjugation groups in Portuguese.

Irregular Past Participles

Here are a few common verbs with irregular Past Participles:

	Past Participles
abrir (open)	*aberto*
cobrir (cover)	*coberto*
dizer (say)	*dito*
escrever (write)	*escrito*
fazer* (do)	*feito*
pagar (pay)	*pago*
ver (see)	*visto*
vir (come)	*vindo*
pôr (put)	*posto*

🔎* The verb fazer is especially versatile and idiomatic. Learn more about it.

Shifting Past Participles

Some verbs have two Past Participle forms: one regular and one irregular. The regular form is typically used with the auxiliaries ter and haver, while the irregular form is used with ser or estar:

	Regular (ter/haver)	Irregular (ser/estar)
aceitar (accept)	*aceitado*	*aceite*
entregar (deliver)	*entregado*	*entregue*
matar (kill)	*matado*	*morto*
salvar (save)	*salvado*	*salvo*
acender (light)	*acendido*	*acesso*
eleger (elect)	*elegido*	*eleito*
morrer (die)	*morrido*	*morto*
prender (arrest)	*prendido*	*preso*
exprimir (express)	*exprimido*	*expresso*
imprimir (print)	*imprimido*	*impresso*

Here’s an example with the verb eleger:

Ter
O povo tinha elegido o Marcelo para presidente em 2016.
The people had elected Marcelo for president in 2016.

Ser
O Marcelo foi novamente eleito presidente em 2021.
Marcelo was again elected president in 2021.

💡

While grammar books insist on this distinction, you’ll often hear the irregular form used even with ter or haver. For example, O povo tinha eleito o Marcelo..., is perfectly acceptable in speech.

There are, nonetheless, a few verbs where it would sound off (e.g. morrer or prender). When in doubt, stick to the principles.

Past Participle and Compound Tenses

Compound tenses in Portuguese are formed with the auxiliary ter followed by the Past Participle of the main verb:

Eu tenho feito desporto todos os dias. (fazer)
I’ve been working out every day.

A Lúcia tinha-se esquecido de tomar o comprimido. (esquecer-se)
Lúcia had forgotten to take the medicine.

Past Participle and the Passive Voice

As in English, the passive voice is formed by the verb ser followed by the Past Participle:

Esta música foi composta por mim. (compor)
This song was composed by me.

O João foi salvo pelo nadador salvador. (salvar)
João was saved by the lifeguard.

🔎 Need help with ser vs estar? Read this one.

Past Participles as Adjectives

Past Participles are also used as adjectives after linking verbs like ser, estar, ficar, sentir-se, or andar. In this case, they agree in gender and number with the noun:

Eu sou interessado em política. (interessar)
I am generally interested in politics.

A Isabel está cansada. (cansar)
Isabel is tired.

O Mário ficou surpreendido quando me viu. (surpreender)
Mário was surprised when he saw me.

Sentimo-nos desanimados quando perdemos o jogo. (desanimar)
We felt low spirited when we lost that game.

Vocês andam muito aborrecidos ultimamente. (aborrecer)
You’ve been quite bored lately.

🔎 Learn more about Portuguese gender and number.

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