Breakdown of Pongo una manta encima del colchón de mi cama cuando hace frío.
Questions & Answers about Pongo una manta encima del colchón de mi cama cuando hace frío.
Pongo is the first-person singular (yo) present of poner. Spanish often drops the subject pronoun, so pongo already means "I put." The verb is irregular in the yo form: pongo, not “pono.” Useful forms:
- Present: yo pongo, tú pones, él/ella/usted pone, nosotros ponemos, vosotros ponéis, ellos/ustedes ponen
- Past participle: puesto
- Preterite: puse, pusiste, puso, etc.
Encima de is the standard way to say “on top of” + a noun. You must include de before a noun: encima del colchón, not “encima el colchón.”
En is vaguer (“on/in/at”) and doesn’t emphasize vertical layering. Encima by itself can stand alone (“Está encima”), but when followed by a noun it needs de.
- Sobre works and is a bit more concise or formal: Pongo una manta sobre el colchón...
- Arriba de is common in parts of Latin America. In Spain, for “on top of” people usually prefer encima de or sobre. Arriba alone tends to mean “upstairs/above.”
Both are fine:
- Encima de mi colchón is the simplest.
- Encima del colchón de mi cama explicitly links the mattress to your bed (useful if there are multiple mattresses). Spanish commonly uses de to show possession or association.
- Una manta = a blanket (not a specific one).
- La manta = the blanket (a specific, identified one: e.g., la manta eléctrica). Here it’s a general habit, so una manta is natural.
It’s grammatical and understandable. If you mean extra insulation under the fitted sheet, say:
- Pongo una manta entre el colchón y la sábana bajera. If you mean covering yourself, Spaniards usually say:
- Me tapo con una manta. / Me arropo con una manta. If you mean on the made bed (over the top sheet):
- Pongo una manta encima de las sábanas or sobre la cama.
For weather, Spanish uses impersonal hacer: Hace frío, Hace calor, Hace viento.
Está frío describes the temperature of a thing: El café está frío. Using “Está frío” to mean “It’s cold (outside)” is not idiomatic.
Use tener: Tengo frío.
- Hace frío = It’s cold (weather/room).
- Tengo frío = I feel cold.
Yes, with future reference:
- Habitual/general: Cuando hace frío, pongo una manta.
- Future: Cuando haga frío, pondré una manta. (“When it gets cold, I’ll put…”) Past contrasts:
- Repeated in the past: Cuando hacía frío, ponía una manta.
- One specific past time: Cuando hizo frío, puse una manta.
- colchón has an accent on -chón.
- frío has an accent on the í to break the diphthong (frí-o).
- cuando has no accent here; cuándo is only for questions/exclamations.
- mi (my) has no accent; mí (me, after a preposition) does, e.g., encima de mí.
Yes, la (because manta is feminine):
- La pongo encima del colchón de mi cama cuando hace frío. With two verbs, both positions are fine:
- Voy a ponerla / La voy a poner encima del colchón… Commands:
- Affirmative: Ponla encima del colchón.
- Negative: No la pongas encima del colchón.
It’s understandable, but in Spain you’ll more naturally hear:
- Me tapo con una manta or Me arropo con una manta (“I cover myself with a blanket”). Use ponerse mainly with clothing: Me pongo un jersey.
- colchón = mattress
- manta = blanket
- edredón / nórdico (Spain) = duvet
- colcha = bedspread/coverlet (often decorative)
- Related: cubrecolchón / protector de colchón = mattress protector/topper