Quick question about haber + past participle

[PieMage]

Consider the following sentence (marked correct on my homework):

En una entrevista hecha en San Juan, Puerto Rico, nos ha dicho que ella ha pintado una serie de cuadros sobre las urbanizaciones puertorriqueñas actuales.

Why are the bolded words not dichos and pintada, respectively?

[aleCcowaN]

Because "dicho" and "pintado" are participles, and participles have no gender nor plural in Spanish [what is also true for adverbs]

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Because "haber + past participle" is a conjugation by itself, so past participle remains unchanged.

Nosotros hemos nacido - we've been born
Yo he cambiado - I have changed
Ellas han venido - they have come
María ha cantado - María has sung
Vosotros habéis entrado - you have come in


Not the same case when past participle works as an adjective.

Las sillas pintadas - the painted chairs
Los árboles cortados - the cut down trees
La niña educada - the polite girl
El auto vendido - the sold car


When the past participle is a part of passive voice, it must also agree with gender and number:

La casa ha sido pintada. - The house has been painted.
Los perros han sido encerrados. - The dogs have been locked up.
Las canciones han sido cantadas. - The songs have been sung.
El cuarto ha sido decorado. - The room has been decorated.

[PieMage]

Oh okay, that makes a lot more sense now. Thanks for the clear explanation!

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by aleCcowaN

Because "dicho" and "pintado" are participles, and participles have no gender nor plural in Spanish [what is also true for adverbs]

i.e. they don't inflect

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by Perikles

i.e. they don't inflect

Yes, indeed!

I have forgotten the substantive verb "ser" -just a minor detail- and Spanish features of making passive constructions departing from any available material, where participles are not quite participles:

han sido divididas (not "han sidas divididas")
son divididos en dos grupos
se los divide

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by aleCcowaN

I have forgotten the substantive verb "ser" -just a minor detail-

han sido divididas (not "han sidas divididas")

I take you mean you had forgotten, pluperfect.

Just a remark that there is no reason why a participle after haber should inflect, hence your "han sidas" example, but ser and estar do require agreement. There is a parallel here in French, where active past tenses conjugated with avoir do not inflect, but those with e^tre do inflect.