Breakdown of Pongo mis gafas en la mesa antes de leer.
yo
I
mi
my
en
on
la mesa
the table
leer
to read
antes de
before
poner
to put
las gafas
the glasses
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Questions & Answers about Pongo mis gafas en la mesa antes de leer.
Why is there no yo before pongo?
In Spanish you can drop the subject pronoun because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action. Here pongo ends in -o, which signals first‐person singular (yo). Adding yo is optional and only used for emphasis or contrast.
What exactly is pongo?
Pongo is the first‐person singular present indicative form of the irregular verb poner (“to put”). It literally means “I put” or “I place.”
Why is it mis gafas instead of mi gafas?
Possessive adjectives in Spanish agree in number (and sometimes gender) with the noun they modify. Gafas is plural, so mi becomes mis.
Why is gafas plural? Can you say gafa?
In Spanish gafas (glasses) is always plural. There is no singular form gafa in modern usage. If you need “lens,” you’d say lente (singular) or lentes (plural), but gafas remains plural for the whole eyeglasses.
Why use en la mesa? Could I say sobre la mesa?
Both en and sobre can translate as “on” in English.
- en la mesa is more common in everyday speech to mean “on the table.”
- sobre la mesa is also correct and slightly more formal or precise.
Why isn’t there a definite article before leer, like antes de la leer?
After prepositions like antes de, Spanish requires an infinitive verb without any article. So you say antes de leer (“before reading”). Adding la would be ungrammatical here.
Could you use a noun instead of the infinitive, like antes de la lectura?
Yes, but it changes the meaning slightly. Antes de la lectura means “before the reading” (as a noun or an event). Antes de leer focuses on the action “before reading.”
Why isn’t there a comma before antes de leer?
In Spanish, you don’t usually separate a main clause from a short adverbial phrase with a comma. Since antes de leer is tightly linked to the action of putting down your glasses, no comma is needed.
Can the word order change? For example, Antes de leer, pongo mis gafas en la mesa?
Yes. You can front the time expression: Antes de leer, pongo mis gafas en la mesa. In that case it’s common to add a comma after the introductory phrase, but the meaning stays the same.