Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "poner" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce poner in Spanish?

poner is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /poˈneɾ/. It means “to put.” poh-NEHR, stressed on the second syllable, with an unaspirated p.

poh-NEHR, stressed on the second syllable, with an unaspirated p.

poner /poˈneɾ/

Two syllables, po-NER, beat at the end because of the r. The conjugation adds an irregular g in the I form — "PON-go" — and the future needs a written accent to keep the stress on the ending: "pon-DRÉ". The command form is the bare "pon", one syllable, which is about as short as a Spanish verb form gets.

Listen: poner

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Sound it out

po A p with no burst of air after it, then a pure "oh" held in one position. English p explodes; hold your palm to your mouth and check that nothing moves.

ne A clean n and a short "eh", stressed. Give this syllable the length as well as the volume.

r A single tap of the tongue tip, leaving the vowel before it undistorted.

Hear it in a sentence

Voy a poner la mesa.

I'm going to set the table.

Listen: Voy a poner la mesa.

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"Voy a poner la mesa" is a set expression — Spanish puts the table where English sets it. The near future "voy a" plus infinitive is the everyday way to talk about what is coming, more common in speech than the true future tense. Say "a poner" and the two words link with no gap at all.

Where English speakers slip

The p picks up an English puff and the stress slides forward, giving "POH-ner". Both need correcting: quiet p, beat on the second syllable. Beyond that, this verb is a workhorse in reflexive form — "ponerse" means to put on clothing or to become a certain way, as in "me pongo nervioso" — so learners who only know it as to put will find half its uses invisible.