posponer

Posponer is a Spanish verb meaning to delay or postpone something to a later time. It is commonly used for events, appointments, decisions, or tasks that are moved from an initially planned slot.

Origin and form: Posponer derives from Latin postponere, composed of post- "after" and ponere "to place," via the Spanish prefix pos- attached to poner. The word is cognate with the English postpone.

Usage: Posponer indicates scheduling an occurrence for a later moment, not canceling it. It is often used with a direct object: posponer una reunión, posponer una cita, posponer una decisión. In some contexts, synonyms include aplazar and demorar, with slight nuance: aplazar can imply a more formal or longer deferral, while posponer can be shorter or conditional; both can be used with deadlines.

Conjugation and forms: In present indicative, the first-person singular is pospongo; the rest follow a pattern similar to other -er verbs with irregular yo form: pospones, pospone, posponemos, posponéis, posponen. The past participle is pospuesto, used with haber: he pospuesto. The gerund is posponiendo. The pronominal form posponerse means to postpone oneself or to reschedule.

See also: demorar, retrasar, aplazar.