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Put a French Verb
The irregular French verb mettre usually means "to put" but has some additional meanings and can also be used pronominally.
Mettre = to put
Generally speaking, mettre is equivalent to "to put," literally and figuratively.
Par exemple…
| Tu peux mettre ta voiture dans le garage. | You can put your car in the garage. | |
| Je ne mets jamais mon travail avant ma famille. | I never put my work before my family. | |
| Nous la mettons parmi les plus grands écrivains. | We put (rate) her among the greatest writers. |
Mettre = to put + preposition
1) to put on (wear)
| Je vais mettre une robe. | I’m going to put on a dress. | |
| Elle ne mets jamais du rouge. | She never wears red. |
Synonym: porter
2) to put on, turn on
| Je vais mettre la télé. | I’m going to put the TV on. | |
| Qui a mis mon ordinateur ? | Who turned my computer on? |
Synonym: allumer
Mettre à
1) to put something on/up/out to do something
| Je vais mettre le pain à décongeler. | I’m going to put the bread out to defrost. | |
| Mets la soupe à mijoter. | Put the soup on to simmer. |
Synonym: causative construction
2) to put (time, effort) into
| Il a mis trois heures à nettoyer. | He put 3 hours into cleaning, He spent 3 hours cleaning. | |
| Je mets toute mon énergie à cuisiner. | I’m putting all my energy into cooking. |
Synonym: consacrer
Mettons
In the nous imperative, mettre can be a presentative meaning supposing, assuming:
| Mettons qu’elle arrive demain … | Assuming she arrives tomorrow … | |
| On y consacre 2 heures, mettons, et puis … | We’ll spend, say, 2 hours on it, and then … |
Synonyms: assumer | présumer | supposer
Se mettre
As a pronominal verb, se mettre also has many different meanings.
1) to put on oneself
| Je vais me mettre un pansement. | I’m going to put a bandage on. | |
| Peux-tu te mettre une robe ? | Can you put on a dress? |
2) to put oneself
| Tu dois te mettre au chaud. | You need to go (stand/sit) in the warmth. | |
| Je me suis mis au piano. | I sat down at the piano. |
3) to belong in a place
| Cette lampe se met à ma chambre. | This lamp goes / belongs in my bedroom. | |
| Où se mettent les serviettes ? | Where do the napkins go / belong? |
4) to become (weather)
| J’espère qu’il se mettra au chaud samedi. | I hope it will get warm on Saturday. | |
| Malheureusement, il se met à la pluie. | Unfortunately, it’s turning/getting wet. |
5) se mettre à = to start, begin
| Je vais me mettre au régime. | I’m going to start / go on a diet. | |
| Pourquoi s’est-il mis à rire ? | Why did he start laughing? |
Mettre in idiomatic expressions
Mettre is found in dozens of idiomatic expressions; here are just a few:
- mettre de l’eau dans son vin – to tone it down
- mettre les pieds dans le plat – to mess up, put one’s foot in one’s mouth
- mettre sa langue dans sa poche – to hold one’s tongue
- mettre son grain de sel – to stick one’s nose in
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