The preterite tense of poner is used to express when something was put or placed at a specific moment in the past, for example, “I put the keys on the table this morning.” This tense helps you describe exactly when something was positioned or placed.

This is an irregular verb that has a unique stem in the preterite tense. It uses the stem ‘pus-‘ instead of ‘pon-‘ and follows special ending patterns that must be memorized.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Poner (to put) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The Preterite of poner describes the act of placing or putting something in a specific moment in the past. This irregular verb has many practical and idiomatic uses.

To place or put: The basic meaning of physically placing something, for example puse las llaves en la mesa (I put the keys on the table).

To put on (clothing/accessories): Used for wearing items, for example se puso el sombrero (he/she put on the hat).

To apply or implement: Used for establishing something, for example pusieron nuevas reglas (they put new rules in place).

Colloquial uses: In informal contexts, can mean to scold or nickname someone, for example le puso un apodo (they gave him/her a nickname).

Examples

Examples of Poner in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Puse las llaves sobre la mesa. (I put the keys on the table.)

¿Dónde pusiste mi celular? (Where did you put my cell phone?)

Ella puso mucho esfuerzo en el proyecto. (She put a lot of effort into the project.)

Pusimos la decoración para la fiesta. (We put up the decorations for the party.)

Los niños pusieron sus juguetes en orden. (The children put their toys in order.)

¿Quién puso la música? (Who put on the music?)

Puse la ropa en la lavadora. (I put the clothes in the washing machine.)

El chef puso sal al gusto. (The chef put salt to taste.)

Pusimos el árbol de Navidad ayer. (We put up the Christmas tree yesterday.)

¿Por qué pusiste esa cara? (Why did you make that face?)

El banco puso nuevas condiciones. (The bank put new conditions in place.)

Pusieron un nuevo semáforo en la esquina. (They put a new traffic light on the corner.)

Puse mi nombre en la lista. (I put my name on the list.)

Ellos pusieron todo su empeño. (They put in all their effort.)

Pusiste demasiada azúcar en el café. (You put too much sugar in the coffee.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Poner (to put) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.