Breakdown of Pon la etiqueta en el pedido.
en
in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)
poner
to put / to set (the table) / to make (an excuse) / to give, to impose (a fine, a penalty)
la etiqueta
the label
el pedido
the order
Questions & Answers about Pon la etiqueta en el pedido.
Why is the command pon instead of "pone"?
Pon is the irregular informal (tú) command form of the verb poner (to put). While most regular tú commands just use the he/she/it present tense form (like habla or come), poner is one of a handful of very common verbs that have a special short command form. Other examples you are learning include haz (do/make), ve (go), and sal (leave/go out).
If I wanted to replace "the label" with "it" and say "Put it on the order", how would I do that?
You would attach the pronoun directly to the end of the affirmative command. Since "the label" (la etiqueta) is feminine, "it" translates to la. Attached to pon, it becomes one single word: ponla. So, "Put it on the order" translates to Ponla en el pedido.
Doesn't en usually mean "in"? Why does it mean "on" here?
The Spanish preposition en is very versatile and covers "in", "on", and "at" depending on the context. Here, because you are attaching a label to the surface of a box or document, en el pedido naturally translates to "on the order".