3 Ways to Conjugate Poner (2024)

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Co-authored byDiana Con Webberand Jennifer Mueller, JD

Last Updated: September 16, 2021References

1. 1

   Say "yo pongo" to mean "I put." For the first-person present tense form of the verb poner, you drop the -er ending and add a "g" to the end of the verb stem. This is the only present tense form of poner that is irregular.^[2]

2. 2

   Use regular conjugation rules in present tense. For all pronouns other than the first person, poner follows the same conjugation pattern as regular verbs ending in -er. Do not add a "g" to the verb stem like you did with first person.^[3]

   • Tú pones (you put)
   • Él/ella/usted pone (he/she/you put). Remember that objects have a gender in Spanish.
   • Nosotros/as ponemos (we put)
   • Vosotros/as ponéis (you all put)
   • Ellos/ellas/ustedes ponen (they/you all put)
3. 3

   Use the subjunctive tense to talk about possibilities. When you're talking about wishes, desires, guesses, or similarly uncertain things, you use the subjunctive tense in Spanish. Conjugate poner following the same pattern you used for the irregular first-person present tense form.^[4]

   • Yo ponga (I put)
   • Tú pongas (you put)
   • Él/ella/usted ponga (he/she/you put)
   • Nosotros/as pongamos (we put)
   • Vosotros/as pongáis (you all put)
   • Ellos/ellas/ustedes pongan (they/you all put)
4. 4

   Use the imperative form to tell someone to put or not to put. Sometimes you need to order or command someone to do something, and this is what the imperative mood is for. Remember to reverse the verb and pronoun, if you include the pronoun in an imperative sentence. Poner is highly irregular in the imperative mood.^[5]

   • Pon tú/no pongas tú (you put/don't put)
   • Ponga usted/no ponga usted (you put/don't put)
   • Pongamos nosotros/no pongamos nosotros (we put/don't put)
   • Poned vosotros/no pongáis vosotros (you all put/don't put)
   • Pongan ustedes/no pongan ustedes (you all put/don't put)

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1. 1

   Choose the correct tense. In Spanish, there are 2 different tenses used for talking about actions that occurred in the past. Use imperfect tense if you're talking about something you used to do (continually or habitually). You need the preterite tense if you're talking about something that is done, meaning the action occurred entirely in the past.^[6]

   • Poner is regular in the imperfect tense, but irregular in the preterite tense.
2. 2

   Use regular conjugation rules for imperfect tense. If you want to talk about the continual past action of putting something somewhere, you would use the imperfect tense. Drop the -er ending and add the same ending to the verb stem (pon-) as you would for regular -er verbs.^[7]

   • Yo ponía (I used to put)
   • Tú ponías (you used to put)
   • Él/ella/usted ponía (he/she/you used to put)
   • Nosotros/as poníamos (we used to put)
   • Vosotros/as poníais (you all used to put)
   • Ellos/ellas/ustedes ponían (they/you all used to put)
3. 3

   Change the verb stem for preterite tense. If you're talking about an action that began and ended in the past, you want to use the preterite tense. The verb "poner" is highly irregular in the preterite sense.^[8]

   • Yo puse (I put)
   • Tú pusiste (you put)
   • Él/ella/usted puso (he/she/you put)
   • Nosotros/as pusimos (we put)
   • Vosotros/as pusisteis (you all put)
   • Ellos/ellas/ustedes pusieron (they/you all put)

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1. 1

   Change the verb stem. Poner is irregular in the future tense, even though it still has all the same endings as regular -er verbs. The irregularity lies in the fact that you have to change the verb stem from "pon-" to "pondr-."^[9]

2. 2

   Add regular endings for future tense. In Spanish, the future tense doesn't get a helper verb as it does in English. Once you've changed the verb stem for the irregular verb "poner," you simply use the same endings as you would for regular -er verbs.^[10]

   • Yo pondré (I will put)
   • Tú pondrás (you will put)
   • Él/ella/usted pondrá (he/she/you will put)
   • Nosotros/as pondremos (we will put)
   • Vosotros/as pondréis (you all will put)
   • Ellos/ellas/ustedes pondrán (they/you all will put)
3. 3

   Use regular endings for conditional tense. Unlike English, Spanish doesn't use a helper verb for the conditional tense either. Use the conditional tense when you want to say that you (or someone else) would put something somewhere.^[11]

   • Yo pondría (I would put)
   • Tú pondrías (you would put)
   • Él/ella/usted pondría (he/she/you would put)
   • Nosotros/as pondríamos (we would put)
   • Vosotros/as pondríais (you all would put)
   • Ellos/ellas/ustedes pondrían (they/you all would put)

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