Breakdown of Mi hermana ha puesto el taladro en el cajón.
la hermana
the sister
en
in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)
mi
my
poner
to put / to set (the table) / to make (an excuse) / to give, to impose (a fine, a penalty)
haber
to have (auxiliary)
el cajón
the drawer
el taladro
the drill
Questions & Answers about Mi hermana ha puesto el taladro en el cajón.
Why use ha puesto instead of the simple past puso here?
In Spain, the present perfect (ha puesto) is the standard choice for actions that happened recently or in a time frame still connected to the present, like today or this morning. If the result of putting the drill away is what matters right now, speakers in Spain will naturally use ha puesto.
I see puesto comes from poner, but why isn't it ponido?
Poner is highly irregular and its past participle is always puesto. It is worth mastering because this exact irregularity carries over to all verbs that end in -poner, meaning you will also use compuesto for componer and supuesto for suponer.
Is the word cajón (drawer) related to caja (box)?
Yes! It uses the augmentative suffix -ón, which typically makes things bigger, so cajón literally means a large box. Over time, it became the specific, everyday word for a drawer.
Since en can mean in or on, could en el cajón mean the drill is resting on top of the drawer?
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