Question about past participle Puesto

Question

Just looking throught my revision notes...it says 'siempre tengo puestos los auriculares' Does this mean I always have in my ear phones? Why is the past participle 'Puesto' used? If I want to change the subject, for example 'when a person has in their earphones' is it just 'cuando una persona tiene puestos los auriculares' ?

Answer 1

Tener + past participle means that you have done something that still continues right now. "Tengo puesto" means that you put on your headphones before and you still have them on.

Laz, what is the difference between "tengo puesto" and "he puesto"? - MLucie, May 12, 2011

As Lazarus mentioned, "tengo puesto" means 'I have on' and indicates the present - I have on now. "He puesto" means 'I have put on' which indicates a past occurrence, and depending on the context, I may or may not still have it on. - shakedowndave, May 12, 2011

That is great! Thank you.. - MLucie, May 12, 2011

You're quite welcome! - shakedowndave, May 12, 2011

Answer 2

Just like English, there are many ways to express the same thought. Some variants below. I think the biggest difference is in Spanish you would say "on" not "in" for headphones. Using tener + puesto means "put on" or "have on" in this case.

"Siempre tengo puestos mis auriculares" - I always have my headphones on.

"Siempre llevo mis auriculares" - I always wear my headphones.

"Siempre pongo los auriculares" - I always put on headphones.

And in a slightly different sense:

"Siempre uso auriculares" - I always use headphones.

Answer 3

Thanks!...that's not what i am trying to express though :( I am trying to say that i always have in my ear phones...not that I one day put them in & still have them in now. Any ideas?