Portuguese Past Participles: Regular, Irregular & Double Forms
Brazilian Portuguese grammar · verbs · real usage
Falado, Feito, Escrito: One Verb Form, Three Different Jobs
You have probably seen Portuguese forms such as falado, feito, escrito, aberto, pago and visto.
They are past participles — particípios passados — and they appear everywhere:
Eu tinha feito isso.
O trabalho foi feito ontem.
O trabalho está feito.
The same form, feito, is doing three different grammatical jobs.
That is the real key to Portuguese past participles: learning how to form them is only the beginning. You also need to know when the participle stays unchanged, when it agrees in gender and number, and why Brazilians say things such as tinha pago even when a textbook gives you a neat regular-vs.-irregular rule.
Portuguese past participles: the quick answer
Regular Portuguese past participles normally end in -ado or -ido:
falar → falado
comer → comido
abrir → aberto — irregular
You will use participles mainly in three environments:
- compound verb forms with ter/haver: Eu tinha comprado.
- passive constructions with ser: A casa foi vendida.
- resulting states/adjectival uses: A porta está fechada.
In standard compound forms with ter/haver, the past participle is invariant: it remains in the masculine singular form regardless of the gender or number of the subject or object. In passive constructions with ser and resultative/adjectival constructions with estar, the participle must agree in gender and number with the subject.[1][2]
Compare Ela tinha escrito as cartas with As cartas foram escritas. After ter, escrito does not become plural or feminine. In the passive with ser, escritas agrees with as cartas.
A non-finite verb form
What Is a Past Participle in Portuguese?
The Portuguese term is particípio or particípio passado.
Like the infinitive and gerund, it is traditionally described as a non-finite or “nominal” form of the verb. But the participle is especially interesting because it can behave more verbally in some structures and more adjectivally in others.[3]
Compound tense
Eu tinha fechado a porta.
I had closed the door.
Passive voice
A porta foi fechada.
The door was closed.
Resulting state
A porta está fechada.
The door is closed.
All three sentences contain a form of fechar → fechado/fechada, but the grammar is not the same.
The regular pattern
How to Form Regular Portuguese Past Participles
For regular verbs, the pattern is simple:
-AR → -ADO
falar → falado
estudar → estudado
trabalhar → trabalhado
comprar → comprado
-ER → -IDO
comer → comido
beber → bebido
vender → vendido
aprender → aprendido
-IR → -IDO
partir → partido
decidir → decidido
assistir → assistido
dividir → dividido
You can think of the basic transformation as:
Memorize the high-frequency ones first
Common Irregular Past Participles in Portuguese
| Verb | Past participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| abrir | aberto | A loja está aberta. |
| cobrir | coberto | O chão estava coberto. |
| dizer | dito | Eu já tinha dito isso. |
| escrever | escrito | Ela tinha escrito o e-mail. |
| fazer | feito | A gente já tinha feito tudo. |
| vir | vindo | Ela já tinha vindo aqui. |
| pôr | posto | Eu tinha posto o celular na mesa. |
| ver | visto | Você já tinha visto esse filme? |
| descobrir | descoberto | O problema foi descoberto cedo. |
| satisfazer | satisfeito | Os clientes ficaram satisfeitos. |
Forms such as feito, dito, escrito, visto, aberto and posto occur so often that they deserve priority over long alphabetical exception lists.
The central distinction
One Past Participle, Three Different Jobs
| Structure | Example | What it does | Agreement? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ter + participle | Ela tinha fechado as portas. | Builds a compound verb form. | No: in standard compound forms, fechado is invariant. |
| ser + participle | As portas foram fechadas. | Builds the passive voice. | Yes. |
| estar + participle | As portas estão fechadas. | Describes a resulting/current state. | Yes. |
Grammatical descriptions of Portuguese reflect this contrast: participles in compound forms with ter/haver remain verbal and invariant, while passive and copular/result-state contexts show adjectival agreement properties.[2][4]
Compound forms
Ter + Past Participle: Tinha Feito, Teria Feito, Tenha Feito
| Portuguese | Typical English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| tinha feito | had done | Quando cheguei, ela já tinha feito o jantar. |
| teria feito | would have done | Eu teria feito diferente. |
| tenha feito | have done / may have done, depending on structure | Espero que ele tenha feito o trabalho. |
| tivesse feito | had done, in hypothetical/subjunctive contexts | Se eu tivesse feito isso, teria contado. |
After ter, the participle stays unchanged: Ela tinha comprado as passagens / Eles tinham comprado as passagens. It does not become compradas.[1]
Haver + participle also exists grammatically, but ter is the normal auxiliary learners need for everyday contemporary Portuguese; grammatical descriptions recognize haver here while noting its rarity in current use.[5]
An English-speaker trap
Why “Tenho Feito” Is Not Simply the English Present Perfect
English speakers often assume tenho + participle equals English have + participle in every context. It does not.
The Portuguese pretérito perfeito composto — forms such as tenho estudado, tenho trabalhado, tenho perdido — typically presents an activity as repeated or continuing into the present period.[6]
Repeated/current pattern
Tenho estudado bastante ultimamente.
I’ve been studying a lot lately.
Tenho perdido minhas chaves direto.
I keep losing / have been losing my keys lately.
One completed event
English: I have lost my keys.
Natural Portuguese for one completed loss: Perdi minhas chaves.
Ser + participle
Past Participles in the Portuguese Passive Voice
Unlike the participle after ter, the passive participle agrees with the subject in gender and number.[7]
foi escrito → foi escrita → foram escritos → foram escritas
Ser and estar change the perspective
Foi Fechada vs. Está Fechada: Action or Resulting State?
ser + participle
A porta foi fechada às oito.
The door was closed at eight.
The sentence presents the closing as an event/action.
estar + participle
A porta está fechada.
The door is closed.
The sentence presents the resulting/current state.
With estar, participles can behave very much like adjectives, agreeing with the noun they describe. Modern grammatical descriptions emphasize this adjectival behavior while noting that many forms retain a semantic connection to the original verb.[4]
Past participles are not difficult because Portuguese has hundreds of random forms. They are difficult because the same form moves between verb grammar and adjective-like agreement.
Conversational in 20 Weeks helps you meet these structures inside real speaking, listening and storytelling instead of memorizing them as isolated labels.
Why some verbs seem to have two answers
Double Past Participles: Aceitado or Aceito? Entregado or Entregue?
Some Portuguese verbs are traditionally described as verbos abundantes: verbs with more than one accepted participial form.
A traditional rule gives learners a useful starting point:
- use the regular/long form especially with ter/haver;
- use the irregular/short form especially with ser/estar and adjectival contexts.[8]
| Verb | Regular | Short | Useful contrast |
|---|---|---|---|
| aceitar | aceitado | aceito | tinha aceitado / foi aceito |
| entregar | entregado | entregue | tinha entregado / foi entregue |
| imprimir | imprimido | impresso | tinha imprimido / foi impresso |
| limpar | limpado | limpo | tinha limpado / está limpo |
| salvar | salvado | salvo | tinha salvado / está salvo |
| prender | prendido | preso | tinha prendido / foi preso |
| soltar | soltado | solto | tinha soltado / ficou solto |
| morrer | morrido | morto | tinha morrido / está morto |
The traditional distribution is real and useful, and grammatical references still teach it.[8][9] But Brazilian usage is less tidy.
Actual usage is less tidy than the textbook chart
What Brazilians Actually Do With Pago, Ganho, Pego and Other Short Forms
In contemporary Brazilian Portuguese, short participles have expanded beyond the neat “short form with ser/estar, regular form with ter” division. Research documents a broader preference for irregular/short forms in several verbs and continued change in the system.[10]
A learner therefore needs two layers of knowledge: the traditional pattern, which explains forms such as tinha aceitado / foi aceito, and contemporary usage, in which some short forms are also common after ter.
Real Brazilian variation vs. edited standard Portuguese
What About “Tinha Chego” and “Tinha Trago”?
If you spend time listening to Brazilian Portuguese, you may hear Eu tinha chego or Eu tinha trago.
Linguistic research has documented these innovative participles in Brazilian Portuguese. A 2024 UFRJ study found both standard and innovative forms in production and examined changing social evaluations among university students.[10]
Standard edited forms
tinha chegado
tinha trazido
Use these in standard writing and formal contexts.
Documented innovative forms
tinha chego
tinha trago
You may hear these in Brazilian speech. Their social evaluation varies; they are not the standard forms taught for edited Portuguese.
Earlier research likewise documents a broader system of innovative participial formation in colloquial Brazilian Portuguese.[11]
The useful learner distinction is not “Brazilians never say this,” but “Brazilians do say this, while the standard edited form is different.”
Same word, different grammatical behavior
When a Past Participle Becomes an Adjective
Agreement becomes visible: escrito → escrita → escritos → escritas. Grammatical descriptions connect this gender/number variation with the participle’s adjectival properties outside invariant ter/haver + participle forms.[2]
High-value corrections
8 Common Portuguese Past Participle Mistakes
1. Agreement after ter
Ela tinha comprada as passagens.
Ela tinha comprado as passagens.
2. No agreement in the passive
As cartas foram escrito.
As cartas foram escritas.
3. Confusing ser and estar
A porta foi fechada focuses on the event. A porta está fechada describes the state.
4. Inventing regular forms
fazido / escrevido / abrido
feito / escrito / aberto in standard Portuguese.
5. Translating English present perfect mechanically
“I have seen that movie” is normally Já vi esse filme, not automatically Tenho visto esse filme.
6. Treating the double-form rule as absolute
Actual Brazilian usage includes short forms after ter: tinha pago, tinha ganho, tinha pego.
7. Assuming every spoken form is standard writing
You may hear tinha chego; use tinha chegado in standard edited Portuguese.
8. Memorizing without chunks
Learn já tinha feito, foi feito, está feito. The auxiliary tells you what the participle is doing.
Put the forms into a real situation
A Brazilian Portuguese Dialogue With Past Participles
Bia: Você já tinha comprado as passagens?
Lucas: Tinha, mas o voo foi cancelado.
Bia: Sério? E o hotel?
Lucas: Já estava pago.
Bia: Nossa. Você conseguiu resolver?
Lucas: Consegui. A companhia tinha mandado um e-mail, mas eu não tinha visto.
Bia: E agora?
Lucas: Já está tudo resolvido. As passagens foram remarcadas.
Practice
Portuguese Past Participle Exercises
Exercise 1 — Form the participle
- falar → ________
- comer → ________
- decidir → ________
- fazer → ________
- escrever → ________
- abrir → ________
- pôr → ________
- ver → ________
Exercise 2 — Make the agreement where necessary
- Ela tinha ________ as cartas. (escrever)
- As cartas foram ________. (escrever)
- A porta está ________. (fechar)
- Os documentos tinham sido ________. (assinar)
- As lojas estão ________. (abrir)
Exercise 3 — Translate naturally
- I had already done that.
- The windows were opened at eight.
- The windows are open.
- I’ve seen that movie.
- I’ve been watching a lot of Brazilian movies lately.
- She had already paid.
Answer key
Exercise 1: falado; comido; decidido; feito; escrito; aberto; posto; visto.
Exercise 2: escrito; escritas; fechada; assinados; abertas.
Exercise 3:
- Eu já tinha feito isso.
- As janelas foram abertas às oito.
- As janelas estão abertas.
- Já vi esse filme.
- Tenho visto muitos filmes brasileiros ultimamente.
- Ela já tinha pago.
FAQ
Portuguese Past Participles: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the past participle in Portuguese?
The past participle (particípio passado) is a non-finite verb form used in compound forms such as tinha feito, passive constructions such as foi feito, and adjectival/result-state constructions such as está feito.
How do you form regular past participles in Portuguese?
Regular -AR verbs normally take -ado: falar → falado. Regular -ER and -IR verbs normally take -ido: comer → comido, partir → partido.
What are the most important irregular participles?
High-frequency forms include feito, dito, escrito, visto, aberto, posto, coberto and vindo. Note that morrer is better treated separately as a double-participle verb: morrido / morto.
Does the past participle agree after ter?
No. In standard compound forms with ter, the participle is invariant and remains in the masculine singular form: Ela tinha comprado as passagens.[1]
When does the participle agree?
In passive constructions with ser and in adjectival/result-state uses with estar, the participle must agree in gender and number with the subject: as cartas foram escritas, as portas estão fechadas.[2][7]
What is the difference between foi fechado and está fechado?
Foi fechado presents the closing as an event. Está fechado describes the resulting/current state.
Should I say aceitado or aceito?
The traditional guideline uses tinha aceitado and foi/está aceito. Actual Brazilian usage varies by verb, so the pattern is useful but not absolute.[8][10]
Is tinha pago correct?
Yes. Short participles occur naturally after ter in contemporary Brazilian Portuguese, and research documents preference for irregular/short forms in several verbs.[10]
Is tinha chego correct?
Tinha chego is documented in Brazilian speech, but the standard edited participle of chegar is chegado.[10]
Does tenho feito mean “I have done”?
Not automatically. Portuguese tenho feito typically carries a repeated or continuing meaning: “I have been doing / I have done repeatedly lately.”[6]
Sources and further reading
Research Behind This Guide
- Ciberdúvidas / ISCTE — “Imprimido ou impresso?” Invariant participles with ter/haver and agreeing forms with ser/estar.
- Ciberdúvidas / ISCTE — Adjectivo vs. particípio passado. Verbal, passive and adjectival participial uses and agreement.
- Revista LinguíStica / UFRJ — The X-ada construction. Historical and grammatical discussion of the Portuguese participle and its verbal/nominal behavior.
- Ciberdúvidas / ISCTE — “A classe de palavras de ocupado e enviado.” 2026 discussion of compound forms, passive properties and adjectival behavior with copular verbs.
- Ciberdúvidas / ISCTE — Tempos compostos com o verbo haver. Ter/haver + participle and the rarity of haver as auxiliary in current use.
- Ciberdúvidas / ISCTE — O pretérito perfeito composto. Repetition/continuity readings of the compound perfect.
- Ciberdúvidas / ISCTE — Concordância do particípio na passiva. Gender and number agreement in passive constructions.
- Ciberdúvidas / ISCTE — Verbos abundantes. Traditional distribution of regular and short participles.
- Ciberdúvidas / ISCTE — Particípios duplos. Updated discussion of double participles.
- Revista LinguíStica / UFRJ — “Eu tinha trago um cigarro antes que tivesse chego em casa.” 2024 study of past-participle variation and innovative forms in Brazilian Portuguese.
- Revista LinguíStica / UFRJ — “Innovative participles in Brazilian Portuguese.” Academic analysis of innovative participial formation and variation.
- Fundação CECIERJ — Português IV. Educational reference noting that vir and its derivatives use vindo-type forms for both the gerund and past participle.
The goal is not to identify “past participle” on a grammar test. It is to hear feito, escrito and pago and know what the whole sentence is doing.
Turn the Form Into Real Portuguese.
Past participles connect directly to storytelling, passive constructions, everyday states and hypothetical language. Conversational in 20 Weeks builds these structures into speaking and listening practice so you can move from Eu tinha feito… to the rest of the story without translating the grammar first.
