The preterite of poner is used to express when you put or placed something at a specific moment in the past. For example, when you want to say “I put the books on the table yesterday” – “Puse los libros en la mesa ayer.”

This is an irregular verb in the preterite tense. The stem changes to ‘pus-‘ throughout all conjugations, making it essential to learn these forms separately from the regular pattern.

Conjugations

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

The Preterite of poner indicates completed actions of placing or putting.

To put/place: Describes when something was positioned or placed, for example Puse las llaves en la mesa (I put the keys on the table), or Pusieron la televisión en la pared (They put the television on the wall).

To set up/establish: Used for creating or establishing something, for example Pusimos un negocio (We set up a business).

To put on (clothing/items): Indicates putting on clothing or accessories, for example Se puso el abrigo (She put on the coat).

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?)

La maestra puso un ejercicio difícil. (The teacher put a difficult exercise.)

Pusimos todo nuestro esfuerzo en el proyecto. (We put all our effort into the project.)

Los niños pusieron sus juguetes en la caja. (The children put their toys in the box.)

¿Quién puso la música tan alta? (Who put the music so loud?)

Pusiste demasiada sal en la sopa. (You put too much salt in the soup.)

Me puse muy nervioso durante la presentación. (I got very nervous during the presentation.)

Pusieron un nuevo restaurante en la esquina. (They put a new restaurant on the corner.)

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

Se puso el sol y empezó a hacer frío. (The sun set and it started to get cold.)

Pusiste una sonrisa en mi cara. (You put a smile on my face.)

¿Por qué pusieron la reunión tan temprano? (Why did they schedule the meeting so early?)

Puse mi confianza en ti. (I put my trust in you.)

El jefe puso nuevas reglas en la oficina. (The boss put new rules in the office.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Poner (to put) 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.