Verb · irregular
poner
to put
The thing that catches people out
The yo form is pongo, with a g that appears from nowhere, and the past is puse. ponerse means to put on clothes, and also to become: se puso rojo, he went red.
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | pongo | |
| tú | pones | |
| él, ella, usted | pone | |
| nosotros | ponemos | |
| ellos, ustedes | ponen | |
| vosotros, Spain only | ponéis |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | puse | |
| tú | pusiste | |
| él, ella, usted | puso | |
| nosotros | pusimos | |
| ellos, ustedes | pusieron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | pusisteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | ponía | |
| tú | ponías | |
| él, ella, usted | ponía | |
| nosotros | poníamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | ponían | |
| vosotros, Spain only | poníais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | pondré | |
| tú | pondrás | |
| él, ella, usted | pondrá | |
| nosotros | pondremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | pondrán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | pondréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he puesto | |
| tú | has puesto | |
| él, ella, usted | ha puesto | |
| nosotros | hemos puesto | |
| ellos, ustedes | han puesto | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis puesto |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | poniendo | |
| participle | puesto | |
| command, to tú | pon | |
| command, to usted | ponga |
In a sentence
pongo la mesa
I set the table
¿dónde pusiste las llaves?
where did you put the keys?