The preterite of meter is used to express when you put or placed something somewhere at a specific moment in the past. For example, when you want to say “I put the keys in my pocket” – “Metí las llaves en mi bolsillo.”

This verb follows the regular -er conjugation pattern in the preterite tense. Despite its similarity to other irregular verbs of movement, it maintains a completely regular conjugation.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Meter (to put/place) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The Preterite of meter indicates completed actions of putting or inserting.

To put in/insert: Used for placing something inside, for example Metí la llave en la cerradura (I put the key in the lock), or Metieron los documentos en el sobre (They put the documents in the envelope).

To get involved: Describes becoming involved in something, for example Se metió en problemas (He got himself into trouble).

Examples

Examples of Meter in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Metí las llaves en mi bolsillo. (I put the keys in my pocket.)

¿Dónde metiste los documentos? (Where did you put the documents?)

Metió el carro en el garaje. (He put the car in the garage.)

Metimos los muebles en el camión de mudanza. (We put the furniture in the moving truck.)

Metieron la ropa en la lavadora. (They put the clothes in the washing machine.)

Me metí en problemas por hablar demasiado. (I got myself into trouble for talking too much.)

Metiste la pata con ese comentario. (You put your foot in your mouth with that comment.)

Se metió en la conversación sin ser invitado. (He butted into the conversation without being invited.)

Metimos prisa para terminar el trabajo. (We hurried to finish the work.)

Metieron los datos en la computadora. (They entered the data into the computer.)

Metí la carta en el sobre. (I put the letter in the envelope.)

¿Por qué te metiste en ese lío? (Why did you get yourself into that mess?)

Metió el pan en el horno. (She put the bread in the oven.)

Nos metimos en el cine a última hora. (We got into the movie theater at the last minute.)

Metieron miedo con sus historias de terror. (They scared everyone with their horror stories.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Meter (to put/place) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American 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.