Pondré el vaso en la mesa para beber agua durante la cena.

I will place the glass on the table to drink water during dinner.

Breakdown of Pondré el vaso en la mesa para beber agua durante la cena.

• yo: I
• el agua: the water
• beber: to drink
• la: the
• para: to
• el: the
• la mesa: the table
• en: on
• la cena: the dinner
• durante: during
• poner: to place
• el vaso: the glass

Questions & Answers about Pondré el vaso en la mesa para beber agua durante la cena.

Why is Pondré in the future tense rather than using the present tense?

In Spanish, the future tense (Pondré) is used to talk about an action that will happen later. Even though you might hear native speakers use the present tense for the near future, the sentence highlights the intent to place the glass on the table in the future. It’s a subtle nuance but helps emphasize that you are planning or deciding this action for a later moment.

Can I replace Pondré with Voy a poner to express the same idea?

Yes! Voy a poner el vaso also conveys a future action (what you are going to do). In everyday speech, Voy a poner is very common and often sounds more immediate. Pondré can sometimes suggest a more formal or slightly distant future intention, but both forms are correct and natural.

Why do we use en la mesa instead of sobre la mesa?

Both en la mesa and sobre la mesa are grammatically acceptable. En la mesa is very common in everyday Spanish to mean "on the table," while sobre la mesa literally means "on top of the table" and might emphasize the surface slightly more. In most contexts, they’re interchangeable when you just mean "Putting it on the table."

When do we use para versus por? Why para beber agua here?

Para generally indicates purpose or intention: "para beber agua" means "in order to drink water." Por can have a variety of meanings, such as cause or motivation, duration, or exchange. In this sentence, the focus is on the purpose of placing the glass on the table, so para is correct to express "in order to."

Is there a difference between beber and tomar when talking about drinking water?

You can use either beber or tomar to say "to drink" in Spanish, and both are correct. Beber is more straightforward for "to drink," while tomar is sometimes used more generally for "to have something to eat or drink." In many Spanish-speaking regions, especially in Latin America, tomar agua is just as common as beber agua. In Spain, beber agua might be slightly more typical when specifically referring to drinking water.

Why durante la cena and not something like mientras cenamos?

Durante la cena means "during dinner" in a more general sense of the time frame. Mientras cenamos would literally mean "while we eat dinner," which has a more personal, ongoing action focus. It’s a stylistic choice: durante la cena works well when referring to the overall time span of dinner, while mientras cenamos might sound slightly more informal or highlight simultaneous actions.