Tenses/ translation/ grammar

Question

If I want to say, "your secrets are buried", would buried be an adjective, not a verb? I'm pretty sure it's an adj, but I want to check. If that's the case, how would I translate this sentence into Spanish?

Answer 1

'Buried' functions as an adjective, but it's technically a past participle in a passive construction.

(Contrast your sentence with an active version of it, like "You buried your secrets."--here, there's a definitive subject acting, a verb, and an object of that verb.)

There are two main ways to construct passive voice in Spanish: use either SER or ESTAR with a past participle. Ser passives are more common (especially if you do want to specify by what/whom the action was done); Estar passives emphasize a finished state or condition resulting from an action, not the action itself.

In your sentence, it seems like the latter is what's key--that the secrets are buried, not who buried them--so I would use estar with the past participle of 'bury'.

Answer 2

Yes, it would be an adjective. Tus secretos están enterrados.