A past participle is a verb form that works in several important structures in English. It appears with have in perfect tenses, with be in passive sentences, and as an adjective in phrases like a broken window or a closed door. Regular verbs and irregular verbs both have past participles, so the form does not always match the simple past. In many sentences, the past participle is the form that connects an event to a later time or shows the result of an action.

Most regular verbs form the past participle by adding -ed to the base form. Work becomes worked, clean becomes cleaned, and play becomes played. The ending stays the same for all persons because the past participle does not change for I, you, he, she, or they. If you already know Regular Verbs, the pattern is familiar: the past participle uses the same spelling as the regular past tense.

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
paint	paint
clean	clean
work	work
help	help

Regular past participle forms with ed

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
work	work	worked
paint	paint	painted
clean	clean	cleaned
help	help	helped

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Some verbs change spelling before -ed. A final silent e stays in place, so live becomes lived and close becomes closed. In many one-syllable verbs with one vowel sound and one final consonant, the final consonant is doubled before -ed: stop becomes stopped, plan becomes planned, and rob becomes robbed. When a verb ends in consonant + y, the y changes to i: study becomes studied and carry becomes carried. Verbs ending in vowel + y keep the y: play becomes played.

Spelling changes before ed

Idea
Double the final consonant after a short vowel in a one syllable verb.
Keep the final e and add d to verbs that already end in e.
Change y to i before adding ed after a consonant.

Irregular verbs do not form the past participle with -ed. Some of the most frequent forms are seen from see, gone from go, written from write, chosen from choose, taken from take, and made from make. Other very common forms include been, done, had, said, known, and given. These forms matter early because they appear in everyday perfect tenses and passive sentences. If you need a full review of base forms and past forms, compare them with Irregular Verbs.

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
make	make
go	go
see	see
take	take
write	write
choose	choose

Common irregular past participle forms

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
see	see	seen
go	go	gone
write	write	written
choose	choose	chosen
take	take	taken
make	make	made

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Past participles can describe nouns when they work like adjectives. A broken door is a door in a damaged state, and a closed shop is a shop that is not open. These forms usually describe the result of an action, not the action itself. Many of these adjective uses come from participles that also appear in passive sentences. Some forms are common in everyday descriptions, such as interested, bored, worried, and surprised. Present participles often describe the cause of a feeling, while past participles describe the feeling or result, so it helps to compare them with Present Participles.

Adjective uses of past participles

Usage	Explanation
Physical condition	Use a past participle as an adjective to describe something that has been damaged or changed.
Completed state	Use a past participle as an adjective to show that something is finished or no longer open.
Emotional effect	Use a past participle as an adjective to describe how a person feels after an event.
Hidden or covered result	Use a past participle as an adjective when something is covered, blocked, or not visible.

Use have, has, or had + past participle to build perfect tenses. Present perfect uses have or has: I have finished, she has left. Past perfect uses had: they had eaten, the train had arrived. Future perfect uses will have + past participle: we will have finished, she will have completed the form. The auxiliary carries tense, while the past participle gives the main verb meaning. These forms are required for Present Perfect and related perfect structures.

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
I	have
you	have
we	have
she	have
she	have
I	have
he	have
they	have

Have forms with past participles

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
I	have	have
you	have	have
he	have	has
she	have	has
we	have	have
they	have	have
I	have	had
she	have	had

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Use be + past participle to form the passive voice. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence: The chef prepared the meal becomes The meal was prepared. The be verb changes for tense and number: is painted, was painted, will be painted, has been painted. Use by + agent only when the doer of the action matters: The window was broken by a stone. When the agent is unknown, obvious, or unimportant, leave it out. These forms are central to Passive Voice or Active Voice.

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
we	be
you	be
he	be
she	be
she	be
I	be
they	be
I	be
we	be
they	be

Be forms with passive participles

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
I	be	am
you	be	are
he	be	is
she	be	is
we	be	are
they	be	are
I	be	was
she	be	was
we	be	were
they	be	were

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