Using in situ high pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HPXPS), we have followed the oxidation and the reduction of Pd model catalysts in oxygen and CO pressures in the mbar range. The study includes a Pd(100) single crystal as well as SiOx supported Pd nanoparticles of 15 or 35 nm diameter respectively. We demonstrate that also nanoparticles form ultra-thin surface oxides prior to the onset of the bulk PdO. The Pd nano particles are observed to bulk oxidize at sample temperatures 40 degrees lower than the single crystal surface. In the Pd 3d 5/2 and the O 1s spectrum we identify a component corresponding to under-coordinated atoms at the surface of the PdO oxide. The experimentally observed PdO CLS is supported by density functional theory calculations (DFT). In a CO atmosphere, the Pd 3d 5/2 component corresponding to under-coordinated PdO atoms is shifted by +0.55 eV with respect to PdO bulk, demonstrating that CO molecules preferably adsorbs at these sites. CO coordinated to Pd atoms in the metallic and the oxidized phase can also be distinguished in the C 1s spectrum. The initial reduction by CO is similar for the single crystal and the nanoparticle samples, but after the complete removal of the oxide we detect a significant deviation between the two systems, namely that the nanoparticles incorporate carbon to form a Pd carbide. Our results indicates that CO can dissociate on the nanoparticle samples, whereas no such behavior is observed for the Pd(100) single crystal. These results demonstrate the similarities, as well as the important differences, between the single crystal used as model systems for catalysis and nm sized particles on oxide supports.