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poner

Poner is a widely used Spanish verb meaning to put, to place, or to set. It is transitive and forms many idiomatic expressions. In addition to literal placement, it covers turning on devices (poner la radio), setting times (poner a las ocho), and a range of figurative senses such as poner atención (to pay attention) or poner en duda (to cast doubt).

It derives from Latin ponere and is cognate with related forms in other Romance languages, such as

Conjugation at a glance:

Present: pongo, pones, pone, ponemos, ponéis, ponen.

Preterite: puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron.

Imperfect: ponía, ponías, ponía, poníamos, poníais, ponían.

Future: pondré, pondrás, pondrá, pondremos, pondréis, pondrán.

Conditional: pondría, pondrías, pondría, pondríamos, pondríais, pondrían.

Present subjunctive: ponga, pongas, ponga, pongamos, pongáis, pongan.

Imperfect subjunctive: pusiera (o pusiese).

Past participle: puesto. Gerund: poniendo.

Imperative: tú pon, usted ponga, nosotros pongamos, vosotros poned, ustedes pongan; negative: no pongas, no ponga,

Usage notes:

Poner is highly productive in compounding and phrasal verbs. It often requires prepositions or is combined

French
mettre,
Italian
mettere,
and
Portuguese
pôr.
no
pongamos,
no
pongáis,
no
pongan.
with
reflexives
to
express
states
or
beginnings,
as
in
ponerse
nervioso
(to
become
nervous)
or
ponerse
a
estudiar
(to
begin
studying).
Common
phrases
include
poner
la
mesa
(to
set
the
table),
poner
en
marcha
(to
start
a
process),
and
poner
de
relieve
(to
emphasize).
Its
versatility
makes
it
one
of
the
core
verbs
in
everyday
Spanish.