puse/pusiste/puso/pusimos/pusieron

Preterite of Poner

Level 2

‘Poner’ (to put) is irregular in the preterite tense. The stem changes to ‘pus-’ and it uses special endings: puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusieron.

How It Works

Poner (to put, place, set) is a common verb that is irregular in the preterite tense. This means it doesn't follow the standard conjugation pattern for -er verbs.

The irregularity has two parts:
1. The stem changes from pon- to pus-.
2. It uses a special set of endings that are common to many irregular preterite verbs (like tener, estar, poder). These endings have no accent marks.

Here is the conjugation:

  • yo puse (I put)
  • tú pusiste (you put)
  • él/ella/usted puso (he/she/you formal put)
  • nosotros/as pusimos (we put)
  • vosotros/as pusisteis (you all put)
  • ellos/ellas/ustedes pusieron (they/you all put)

Beyond its main meaning of "to put," poner can also mean "to turn on" an appliance or appear in a construction such as poner nervioso a alguien (make someone nervous). Pronominal ponerse describes the subject becoming that way. For example, 'se puso triste' means 'he/she became sad'.

Examples (6)

  1. Yo puse el libro en la mesa.

    I put the book on the table.

    Word by Word: I put the book on the table.

  2. ¿Dónde pusiste mis llaves?

    Where did you put my keys?

    Word by Word: Where put-you my keys?

  3. Ella puso la música muy alta.

    She put the music on very loud.

    Word by Word: She put the music very loud.

  4. Nosotros pusimos la mesa para la cena.

    We set the table for dinner.

    Word by Word: We put the table for the dinner.

  5. Ellos se pusieron nerviosos antes del examen.

    They got nervous before the exam.

    Word by Word: They / became [pronominal poner] / nervous / before the exam.

    Here pronominal ponerse means becoming nervous. This is a change of state, not a literal reflexive action performed on oneself.

  6. ¿Ustedes pusieron atención en clase?

    Did you all pay attention in class?

    Word by Word: You-all put attention in class?

Common Mistakes

  • Using regular -er preterite endings instead of the irregular ones.

    Ella ponió la carta en el buzón.
    Ella puso la carta en el buzón.

    'Poner' is irregular and does not use the regular '-ió' ending. The stem changes to 'pus-' and the correct ending for él/ella/usted is '-o'.

  • Forgetting the stem change from 'pon-' to 'pus-'.

    Yo poní mis zapatos en la caja.
    Yo puse mis zapatos en la caja.

    The entire stem of 'poner' changes to 'pus-' in the preterite. You must use this new stem before adding the correct irregular ending.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

puse/pusiste/puso/pusimos/pusieronLevel 2Preterite of Poner

Learn This First

To learn the preterite of 'poner', you need to understand the standard preterite endings for -er verbs and be familiar with how 'poner' functions in the present tense. Additionally, recognizing patterns in other 'u-stem' irregular preterites like 'tener' helps in memorizing these specific changes.

Words in This Pattern

poner