Mettere

Mettere is an Italian verb meaning to put, to place, or to set. It is a transitive verb of the -ere conjugation class and is widely used in literal and figurative senses. Its meanings extend from putting an object somewhere to setting a condition, state, or action in motion, and it appears in numerous phrasal verbs and idioms.

Etymology and usage notes: Mettere derives from Latin mittere, related to other Romance verbs such as French mettre or Spanish meter. In Italian, the verb serves as a foundation for many expressions that describe placement, placement of responsibility, initiation of an action, or adjustment of a state. It often combines with prepositions to form idioms that specify how or where something is placed or changed.

Conjugation highlights: In the present tense the forms are io metto, tu metti, lui/lei mette, noi mettiamo, voi mettete, loro mettono. The past participle is messo and the auxiliary used with compound tenses is avere (ho messo, avevi messo, ha messo, etc.). The verb shows irregularities in several tenses, including future and conditional forms: metterò, metterai, metterà, metteremo, metterete, metteranno; and metterei, metteresti, metterebbe, metteremmo, mettereste, metterebbero. The present subjunctive is metta, metti, metta, mettiamo, mettete, mettano.

Representative usages: Mettere is used for placing objects (Metto il libro sul tavolo), for setting conditions or states (Mettere qualcuno a proprio agio), and in numerous phrasal verbs such as mettere in tavola, mettere in evidenza, mettere da parte, mettere a fuoco, mettere in scena. It supports a wide range of nuances in everyday Italian.