In Spanish, verb periphrases with the past participle are used to express the result of an action or a process. Are you ready to know more about this topic? Our Spanish school El Rincón el Tándem explains everything in this blog 🙂
Today we are going to take up the verb periphrases in Spanish, focusing on the meaning and structure of verb periphrases with the past participle.
As we already mentioned in our previous post, verb periphrases are a combination of two verbs. The first verb uses the conjugated form while the second one uses the impersonal form; in this case, the past participle.
We said that verb periphrases with the gerund are mainly used to express the continuity or duration of an action. Differently, we use the past participle to express the results of it.
Please, keep in mind that, although it is an impersonal form, the past participle agrees in number and gender with the subject or the object.
Let’s see below what are these constructions:
ESTAR + PAST PARTICIPLE
With this structure we refer to the resulting state of a passive action. This periphrasis specifically expresses the result, while the passive construction (SER+ past participle) focuses on the action.
Examples:
El curso está adaptado a las personas de todas las edades
The course is adapted to persons of all ages
El curso ha sido adaptado a las personas de todas las edades
The course has been adapted to persons of all ages (passive voice of ADAPTAR)
LLEVAR + PAST PARTICIPLE
We use this construction to mean a cumulative succession of completed actions. We can frequently find this periphrasis structured as follows:
Time phrase + LLEVAR + past participle + countable noun
or
LLEVAR + past participle + time phrase + countable noun
The time phrases that usually go with this periphrasis are: por el momento (for the time being), ya (already), hasta ahora (so far), etc.
Examples:
Ya llevo recorrido mitad del camino
I have already got half way
Hasta ahora llevo editadas más de 30 fotos
So far I have edited more than 30 photos
LOOK OUT!
In these last examples, the past participle agrees in number and gender with the direct object.
TENER + PAST PARTICIPLE
We use TENER + past participle to put an emphasis on the consequence of a completed action.
As in the case of ESTAR + past participle, we have to pay attention to the difference between the present perfect of HABER (to have) and TENER+ participle. The first construction focuses on the action itself, while the second one refers to the final result.
Also in this case, the participle agrees in gender and number with the direct object.
Examples:
Ya tengo hechas todas las maletas
My luggage is already packed
Ya he hecho todas las maletas
I have already packed my luggage (Present perfect)
We hope this blog will help you use verb periphrases with past participle, in order to make you sound like a native Spanish.
As usual, our Spanish school el Rincón del Tándem, invites you to explore more about Spanish grammar and language, by following our blog.
Finally, we are waiting for you at our school, where you can learn with fun with our cheap Spanish courses in Valencia.
Till the next post!
