Quiero poner el jarrón encima del aparador, con tal de que nadie mueva la mesa.

After querer, Spanish usually uses the infinitive when the person who wants something is also the person who will do it.

• Quiero poner el jarrón... = I want to put the vase...

You would not say quiero pongo because after quiero you do not normally use another conjugated verb directly.

You would use quiero que + subjunctive only when the subject changes:

• Quiero poner el jarrón. = I want to put the vase.
• Quiero que pongas el jarrón. = I want you to put the vase.

Here poner means to put, to place, or to set something somewhere.

It is one of the most common Spanish verbs and is very broad in use. In this sentence, it simply means physically placing the vase on top of the sideboard.

A slightly more formal or specific alternative could be colocar, but poner is the everyday, natural choice.

Encima de means on top of or above.

So:

• encima del aparador = on top of the sideboard

This is more specific than just saying something is in or at the sideboard. It tells you the vase will be placed on the upper surface.

Also, del is a contraction:

• de + el = del

So:

• encima de el aparador is incorrect
• encima del aparador is correct

Yes, often you could.

• encima del aparador
• sobre el aparador

Both can mean on top of the sideboard.

But there is a slight nuance:

• encima de strongly emphasizes physical position on top of
• sobre can also mean on, but in some contexts it can sound a little more formal or slightly less concrete

In everyday speech, encima de is extremely common and very natural here.

In Spain, aparador usually means a sideboard, cabinet, or dresser-like piece of furniture, often found in a dining room or living room.

The exact English translation can depend on the furniture in question, but in Spain aparador is a normal word for a piece of furniture with a flat top where you might place decorative objects like a vase.

Con tal de que means provided that, as long as, or on condition that.

It introduces a condition that must be met.

In this sentence, the idea is:

• I want to put the vase on the sideboard, as long as nobody moves the table.

It is a fixed expression, so it is best learned as a whole chunk: con tal de que.

Because con tal de que is followed by the subjunctive.

So:

• con tal de que nadie mueva la mesa = provided that nobody move / provided that nobody moves the table

Spanish uses the subjunctive after many expressions of condition, doubt, emotion, purpose, or uncertainty. Con tal de que is one of those expressions.

If you said nadie mueve la mesa, that would be the indicative, and it would sound like a factual statement: nobody moves the table.

But here the speaker is talking about a condition, not a fact, so mueva is required.

Yes. It comes from the verb mover.

The present subjunctive of mover uses a stem change:

• mover
• mueva, muevas, mueva, movamos, mováis, muevan

This is similar to the stem change seen in the present indicative:

• muevo, mueves, mueve...

So nadie mueva uses the yo-form stem pattern that helps form the subjunctive.

Nadie means nobody or no one.

It works naturally as the subject of the second clause:

• nadie mueva la mesa = nobody moves the table

It is the normal word to use when you mean no person. Spanish does not need an extra word like no before the verb when nadie comes before it.

So this is correct:

• Nadie mueva la mesa

Compare:

• Nadie vino. = Nobody came.
• No vino nadie. = Nobody came.

Both patterns are possible, depending on word order.

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does, especially when talking about specific, known objects.

Here la mesa suggests a particular table, probably one already known in the situation.

Likewise:

• el jarrón = the vase
• el aparador = the sideboard
• la mesa = the table

In English, articles are also used here, so this part matches quite well.

The comma separates the main clause from the conditional clause:

• Quiero poner el jarrón encima del aparador, con tal de que nadie mueva la mesa.

It helps readability and makes the sentence easier to process.

In short sentences, punctuation can sometimes vary, but the comma is very natural here because con tal de que... adds a condition to the main idea.

Yes. Spanish allows some flexibility in word order, although the original version is very natural.

For example:

• Con tal de que nadie mueva la mesa, quiero poner el jarrón encima del aparador.

This puts more emphasis on the condition first.

The original sentence is probably the most neutral and conversational order: first the speaker says what they want to do, then adds the condition.

Yes, it is natural and correct in Spain.

A speaker from Spain would understand it immediately. The vocabulary is normal, especially:

• jarrón
• aparador
• con tal de que
• mueva

If anything, con tal de que can sound a little more deliberate or careful than a very casual phrase like siempre que, but it is still completely natural.