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. |
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You can put your car in the garage. |
Je ne mets jamais mon travail avant ma famille. |
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I never put my work before my family. |
Nous la mettons parmi les plus grands écrivains. |
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We put (rate) her among the greatest writers. |
Mettre = to put + preposition
1) to put on (wear)
Je vais mettre une robe. |
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I’m going to put on a dress. |
Elle ne mets jamais du rouge. |
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She never wears red. |
Synonym: porter
2) to put on, turn on
Je vais mettre la télé. |
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I’m going to put the TV on. |
Qui a mis mon ordinateur ? |
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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. |
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I’m going to put the bread out to defrost. |
Mets la soupe à mijoter. |
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Put the soup on to simmer. |
Synonym: causative construction
2) to put (time, effort) into
Il a mis trois heures à nettoyer. |
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He put 3 hours into cleaning, He spent 3 hours cleaning. |
Je mets toute mon énergie à cuisiner. |
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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 … |
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Assuming she arrives tomorrow … |
On y consacre 2 heures, mettons, et puis … |
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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. |
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I’m going to put a bandage on. |
Peux-tu te mettre une robe ? |
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Can you put on a dress? |
2) to put oneself
Tu dois te mettre au chaud. |
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You need to go (stand/sit) in the warmth. |
Je me suis mis au piano. |
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I sat down at the piano. |
3) to belong in a place
Cette lampe se met à ma chambre. |
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This lamp goes / belongs in my bedroom. |
Où se mettent les serviettes ? |
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Where do the napkins go / belong? |
4) to become (weather)
J’espère qu’il se mettra au chaud samedi. |
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I hope it will get warm on Saturday. |
Malheureusement, il se met à la pluie. |
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Unfortunately, it’s turning/getting wet. |
5) se mettre à = to start, begin
Je vais me mettre au régime. |
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I’m going to start / go on a diet. |
Pourquoi s’est-il mis à rire ? |
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Why did he start laughing? |
Mettre in idiomatic expressions
Mettre is found in dozens of idiomatic expressions; here are just a few:
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