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Let’s work on the verb Poner, which means “to put”, and Ponerse, which can be used in a variety of ways. We’ll get lots of spoken practice with poner, puesto, pongo, pone, pones, ponen, and ponemos.
¿Dónde puedo poner esto?
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Today we’re going to learn the verb Poner, which roughly means “to put”, although it can also mean a variety of other things.
Here’s a very simple example:
Where can I put this?
¿Dónde puedo poner esto?
Poner has a very irregular participle, puesto. For example:
She has put it here.
Ella lo ha puesto aquí.
Let’s practice poner and puesto.
She didn’t have to put her heart in his hands.
No tenía que poner su corazón en sus manos.
I’ve put the books on the shelves.
He puesto the books en the shelves.
He puesto los libros en los estantes.
You have to put the plates on that.
Tienes que poner the plates en eso.
Tienes que poner los platos en eso.
You can put this here.
Puedes poner esto aquí.
She has put the keys there.
Ha puesto the keys ahí.
Ha puesto las llaves ahí.
Next let’s learn the present-tense conjugations. Most of them are quite regular: We have pone, pones, ponen, and ponemos. For example:
She puts it where we put it.
Ella lo pone donde lo ponemos.
They put it in the same place that you put it.
Lo ponen en el mismo lugar que tú lo pones.
But to say “I put”, you use pongo, which has an extra G, kind of like tengo and hago. For example:
I’m putting this in your house.
Pongo esto en tu casa.
Let’s practice pongo, pone, pones, ponen, and ponemos.
They are putting many things there.
Ponen muchas cosas ahí.
You aren’t putting things back in their place.
No pones las cosas de vuelta en su lugar.
I always put ice in my drinks.
Siempre pongo ice en mis drinks.
Siempre pongo hielo en mis bebidas.
We never put the toys back in the box.
Nunca ponemos the toys de vuelta en the box.
Nunca ponemos los juguetes de vuelta en la caja.
You(formal) are putting one extra here.
Usted pone uno de más aquí.
Here’s another example that’s a bit complex, and it uses the word sobre to mean “about”, describing what a book is about. In these cases, you use the verb Ser, because what a book is about, or sobre, is considered a part of what it is. So see how much of the Spanish here you can guess.
She puts the book(m), which is about history, on the table.
Ella pone the book, el cual es sobre historia, en the table.
Ella pone el libro, el cual es sobre historia, en la mesa.
Now as I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, Poner can mean a wide variety of things. For example, you can use this verb to talk about installing something, or establishing something, or even to change something. We’ll learn more and more of these uses in future episodes as we accumulate the nouns and adjectives that will help us practice those uses.
For now, let’s learn how to use Ponerse. When Poner is used reflexively, there are a couple of things it can mean. The easiest one refers to putting something on, such as an article of clothing. Check out this example:
Before leaving, he puts on something stylish.
Antes de irse, se pone algo stylish.
Antes de irse, se pone algo elegante.
So literally “before leaving, he puts himself something nice”. This is the most common way to refer to putting something on in Spanish.
To help practice this use of Ponerse, let’s go ahead and learn the word for “clothes” or “clothing”, which is ropa. This is a feminine noun, and it’s considered a “mass noun”, which means we don’t make it plural; in that way it’s used more like the English word “clothing” than “clothes”. Here’s an example:
I’m putting on my best clothes.
Me pongo mi mejor ropa.
But Ponerse can also refer to “getting” a certain way, particularly when it comes to how you feel. For example:
I get happy when she says that.
Me pongo feliz cuando ella dice eso.
What’s happening here is very similar to what happened with Hacerse, which often describes “becoming” something. For example:
I become her friend.
Me hago su amigo.
The main difference is that Hacerse is used to describe what you’re becoming, whereas Ponerse tends to describe how you’re becoming. So you’ll use Hacerse in many of the same situations that you’d use Ser, for example being or becoming a friend. But you’ll use Ponerse in many of the same situations that you’d use Estar, for example being or becoming happy or sad.
To help us practice this, I’m going to go ahead and give you the adjective for “sad”, which is triste. For example:
They are going to get sad.
Se van a poner tristes.
Let’s practice a few uses of Ponerse to refer to putting something on or getting to feel a certain way.
I get anxious when I’m in a crowd, but you get happy.
Me pongo anxious cuando estoy en a crowd, pero tú te pones feliz.
Me pongo ansioso cuando estoy en una multitud, pero tú te pones feliz.
Many of you get angry when you don’t eat.
Muchos de ustedes se ponen angry cuando no you eat.
Muchos de ustedes se ponen enojados cuando no comen.
(formal) You get sad when you aren’t with your loved ones.
Usted se pone triste cuando no está con sus seres queridos.
We are putting on a suit for the party, but he is putting on a jacket.
Nos ponemos a suit para la fiesta, pero él se pone a jacket.
Nos ponemos un traje para la fiesta, pero él se pone una chaqueta.
Remember that you can get more practice with any of this using the free online flashcards here! Or if you’re ready, let’s go on to today’s final quiz. This quiz will unfortunately have quite a bit of Spanglish in it, because we’ve decided to come up with a wide variety of ways that Poner is used in real life, which tend to involve some very specific vocabulary, such as things you might wear or places you might put items. But if you can focus on the verb Poner and how it’s being used in these sentences, it will be all downhill to learn the simple labels for the things we’re talking about.
In this first example, both “milk” and “fridge”, are feminine, and don’t worry about translating the phrase “it’ll go bad”.
We have to put the milk(f) in the fridge(f); if we don’t put it, it’ll go bad.
Tenemos que poner la milk en la fridge; si no la ponemos, it’ll go bad.
Tenemos que poner la leche en la nevera; si no la ponemos, se echará a perder.
If you put on that shirt, it will match with your eyes.
Si te pones that shirt, it will match con tus ojos.
Si te pones esa camisa, combinará con tus ojos.
There are people who put things where they don’t have to go.
Hay personas quienes ponen cosas donde no tienen que ir.
If they put their hands in the fire, they’re going to burn themselves.
Si ponen las manos en the fire, se van a burn.
Si ponen las manos en el fuego, se van a quemar.
She is putting her things in her bag.
Ella pone sus cosas en su bag.
Ella pone sus cosas en su cartera.
We are putting the things where we have always put them.
Ponemos las cosas donde siempre las hemos puesto.
She puts on those clothes, for it’s very hot.
Se pone esa ropa, pues it’s very hot.
Se pone esa ropa, pues hace mucho calor.
He’s putting his things in his box.
Él pone sus cosas en su box.
Él pone sus cosas en su caja.
I’m putting something on my hands because of the blood, while you do that.
Me pongo algo en las manos por la sangre, mientras tú haces eso.
Even though we put on these clothes, we don’t like them.
Aunque nos ponemos esta ropa, no we like them.
Aunque nos ponemos esta ropa, no nos gusta.
If you put that in your mouth, you’re going to get sick.
Si pones eso en la boca, you’re going to get sick.
Si te pones eso en la boca, te vas a enfermar.
They are getting sad because their mind is not what it used to be.
Se ponen tristes porque su mente no es lo que era.
They could get sad if they saw their bodies.
Se podrían poner tristes si they saw sus cuerpos.
Se podrían poner tristes si vieran sus cuerpos.
Who are the ones that are going to put the flowers there?
¿Quiénes son los que van a poner the flowers ahí?
¿Quiénes son los que van a poner las flores ahí?
You have to give him a hand with his face.
Tienes que darle una mano con su cara.
I have put effort and intelligence in this.
He puesto effort and intelligence en esto.
He puesto esfuerzo e inteligencia en esto.
She did that, which is the right thing to do.
Ella hizo eso, lo cual es the right thing to do.
Ella hizo eso, lo cual es lo correcto.
I put on these clothes because I have wanted them with all my being.
Me pongo esta ropa porque la he querido con todo mi ser.
The books(m), which I don’t have, are the ones you always put there.
Los books, los cuales no tengo, son los que siempre pones ahí.
Los libros, los cuales no tengo, son los que siempre pones ahí.
Every night I put my head on the pillow(f), which is very soft.
Todas las noches pongo la cabeza en la pillow, la cual es muy soft.
Todas las noches pongo la cabeza en la almohada, la cual es muy suave.
My dear son, you have to put your things in their place.
Mi querido hijo, tienes que poner las cosas en su lugar.
If I put the cat(m) in the cage, he gets sad.
Si pongo the cat en the cage, él se pone triste.
Si pongo el gato en la jaula, él se pone triste.
To get more practice with these sentences, join the free course here and quiz yourself with them until you’re acing this.
In tomorrow’s episode, we’ll learn the rest of the essential conjugations of Poner.
This show is brought to you by LearnCraftSpanish.com. Our music was provided by the Seattle Marimba Quartet, and I’m Timothy, encouraging you to do the hard work of learning Spanish. Acquiring a second language is one of the most fulfilling things you can do, so start your fluency journey today using our free course — join here.
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