LESSON XXXIX
Reading edition
No necesitamos ser serios para ser buenos.[39]
—PÉREZ GALDÓS.
119. The verb to put in its simplest meaning of to place, lay, set, is poner. It has a very large number of idiomatic uses that call for different translations. Many of these may be learned easily by paraphrasing put. So, to put away, put by (save), guardar, ahorrar; to put back (retard), retardar; (return a thing to where it was), volver a poner una cosa en donde estaba; to put out (extend), extender; (extinguish), apagar; (expel), expeler, echar; (disturb, trouble, annoy), estorbar, molestar; to put down (make a note of), apuntar, poner por escrito; (to suppress), suprimir.
Don't scold me. Put yourself in my place.
No me reprenda usted. Póngase en mi caso.
—LOS QUINTERO.
I picked up the money and put it in my pocket.
Recogí el dinero y lo guardé en el bolsillo.—JUAN VALERA.
They say that he has a lot of money put away.
Dicen que tiene ahorrado muchísimo dinero.
We will put down the names in this little book.
Apuntaremos los nombres en este librito.
I shall not be satisfied until they have put it down in writing.
No quedaré satisfecho hasta que lo hayan puesto por escrito.
Can it be the change of teachers that has put him back so much?
¿Será el cambio de maestros que le ha retardado tanto?
(a) To put on is translated by the reflexive ponerse.
They are torn, I know, but I put them on fully aware of it.
Estan rotas, sí, pero me las he puesto con todo conocimiento.
—PALACIO VALDÉS.
Note.—Cf. to have on, tener puesto, -a, -os, -as.
They had their hats on.
Tenían puestos los sombreros.
(b) To put in (add) is añadir; to put in mind of is rendered recordar; to put in time is gastar or pasar tiempo.
This house puts me in mind of the house where I was born. I should like to put in a few weeks here.
Esta casa me recuerda la casa en donde nací yo. Quisiera pasar unas semanas aquí.
The lemonade is not very sweet. Put in a little more sugar.
No es muy dulce la limonada. Añada usted un poco de azúcar.
120. EXERCISES
(a) 1. Apunte usted todo lo que yo le voy a decir pues ya sé que tiene Vd. corta memoria. 2. Vuelva Vd. a poner todas esas cosas en donde estaban. 3. Guarda tus libros en este cajón. 4. Ya van a apagar las luces. Salgamos antes de que nos echen a la calle. 5. Me olvidé de poner por escrito sus señas en cuanto me las dió. 6. Ponte este vestido. Te cae más bien que aquél. 7. La llegada inesperada de tantos amigos a la vez estorbó no poco a la señora. 8. Extendió la mano para recibir la limosna. 9. Apaga esa luz que aquí se puede ver bastante bien sin ella. 10. Si, fuera yo usted no me estorbaría por ellos.
(b) 1. I must put it down before I forget it. 2. The children have gone to bed without putting their toys away. 3. Put a little more water in (a) the tea. 4. There is much sickness in that family. They put it down (atribuir) to the water from that well. 5. We hoped to finish before night, but the rain has put us back. 6. Shall I put the lamp on this table? (Use present tense of verb.) 7. If we don't let her know that we are coming, we may put her out. 8. He put the knife back into his pocket when he saw that we didn't need to cut the string. 9. The wind had put out all the lights, but it had not put out the fire. 10. Do you think they will be able to put down the revolution that has broken out in the southern provinces?