Irregular Adjectival Past Participles

One of the characteristics of past participles is that they can be used in verb forms as well as serve as adjectives. For example, the past participle of caer (to fall) is caído. It can be used as a verb in a sentence such as "He caído" ("I have fallen") or as an adjective in a phrase such as un ángel caído (a fallen angel).

In nearly all cases, the past participle is the same word whether it is used as a verb or as an adjective (although, of course, the adjectival forms change according to number and gender). However, Spanish has several past participles that change form depending on the part of speech they function as. Most are relatively uncommon words; here are the most common among them, with the verb form first, followed by examples:

• absorber, to absorb (absorbido, absorto): Su cerebro de esponja ha absorbido muchas canciones. (Her sponge of a brain has absorbed many songs.) Estaba absorto en mis pensamientos. (I was absorbed in my thoughts.)
• bendecir, to bless (bendecido, bendito): Hemos bendecido el agua bautismal. (We have blessed the baptismal water.) El agua bendita se utiliza también para bendecir personas. (The holy water is also used to bless people.)
• confundir, to confuse (confundido, confuso): Me han confundido con ella. (They have confused me with her.) Estoy confusa. (I'm confused.)
• despertar, to awaken(despertado, despierto): Me he despertado casi a las diez. (I woke up almost at 10.) Todos estamos despiertos. (All of us are awake.)
• maldecir, to curse (maldecido, maldito): Mi madre me ha maldecido. (My mother has cursed me.) Cree que su dinero está maldito. (He believes his money is cursed.)
• presumir, to presume (presumido, presunto): Han presumido que el pueblo estadounidense está compuesto básicamente de tontos. (They have presumed that the American people are made up basically of fools.) El presunto matador tiene 20 años. (The presumed killer is 20 years old.)
• proveer, to provide (proveído, provisto): Espero que he proveído el suficiente contexto. (I hope that he has provided sufficient context.) Los ciudadanos alemanes tienen que ir provistos de pasaporte. (German citizens have to go provided with their passports.)
• suspender, to suspend (suspendido, suspenso): Han suspendido los labores de rescate. (They have suspended the rescue efforts.) La práctica se considerará suspensa. (The practice will be considered suspended.)

Important note: The forms listed above are all considered standard Spanish. However, it is not uncommon, especially in casual speech but even sometimes in writing, to hear the adjectival forms used as verbs, or vice versa. Also, both forms can often be heard after the verb ser. For example, eres bendecido and eres bendito (you are blessed) are both commonly used, although the latter is probably more common.

Another fairly common verb that can belong to this category is freír, to fry. The adjectival form is frito. The verb form is usually frito, although freído is used in a few areas.