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SPANISH VERB

ponerse a

to start (doing something)

  • Irregular -er verb
  • Gerund: poniéndose a
  • Past participle: puesto a

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. yo I start
  2. tú you start
  3. usted, él, ella he/she starts
  4. nosotros we start
  5. vosotros Spain you all start
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they start

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

  1. yo I started
  2. tú you started
  3. usted, él, ella he/she started
  4. nosotros we started
  5. vosotros Spain you all started
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they started

Imperfect

Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. yo I used to start
  2. tú you used to start
  3. usted, él, ella he/she used to start
  4. nosotros we used to start
  5. vosotros Spain you all used to start
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to start

Future

Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common

  1. yo I will start
  2. tú you will start
  3. usted, él, ella he/she will start
  4. nosotros we will start
  5. vosotros Spain you all will start
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they will start

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

  1. yo I would start
  2. tú you would start
  3. usted, él, ella he/she would start
  4. nosotros we would start
  5. vosotros Spain you all would start
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they would start

Present subjunctive

Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. yo (that) I start
  2. tú (that) you start
  3. usted, él, ella (that) he/she start
  4. nosotros (that) we start
  5. vosotros Spain (that) you all start
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they start

Past subjunctive

Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”

  1. yo (if) I started
  2. tú (if) you started
  3. usted, él, ella (if) he/she started
  4. nosotros (if) we started
  5. vosotros Spain (if) you all started
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they started

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)

  1. tú start!
  2. usted start! (formal)
  3. nosotros start! (let’s)
  4. vosotros Spain start! (all of you)
  5. ustedes start! (all of you)

How to use ponerse a

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Después de comer me pongo a estudiar inglés.

    After lunch I get down to studying English.

  2. Past

    De repente se puso a llover y nos mojamos.

    Suddenly it started to rain and we got wet.

  3. Imperfect

    Cada tarde mi abuela se ponía a tejer.

    Every afternoon my grandmother would start knitting.

  4. Future

    Mañana temprano me pondré a buscar trabajo.

    Early tomorrow I'll start looking for a job.

  5. Conditional

    Yo me pondría a cocinar ahora, antes de que lleguen.

    I'd start cooking now, before they arrive.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Es hora de que te pongas a hacer la tarea.

    It's time you got started on your homework.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Mi mamá quería que me pusiera a trabajar con ella.

    My mom wanted me to start working with her.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Ponte a hacer los tamales, que ya es tarde!

    Get started on the tamales, it's late already!

Good to know

  • "Ponerse a" plus an infinitive is to get going on something, often all of a sudden: "Se puso a llover."

Where you hear ponerse a

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

Spanish · Intermediate Level 3

  • Cuando llego a casa, me pongo a leer. When I get home, I start reading.
  • A medianoche, de repente se puso a llover. At midnight, it suddenly started to rain.
  • Me voy a poner a estudiar inglés, por si acaso. I'm going to start studying English, just in case.
15
I Wish I Could Help You

Intermediate Level 3 · Me voy a poner a estudiar inglés, por si acaso.

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Busy Hands

Intermediate Level 3 · Ponte a hacer tamales.

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -er verb.