Using mettre
Mettre means "to put":
- J'ai mis les livres sur la table
I put the books on the table
Il faut mettre sa famille avant son travail
You have to put your family before your work
Mettez les mains en l'air
Put your hands in the air
Il veut mettre de l'argent dans votre affaire
He wants to put money into your business
1. to put on
- Tu dois mettre un pull
You need to put on a sweater
- J'ai mis deux semaines à le faire
I spent two weeks doing it
- Peux-tu mettre la radio ?
Could you turn on the radio?
- Mettons qu'il a raison...
Supposing / Let's just say that he's right...
- J'ai mis de l'eau à bouillir
I put some water on to boil
Il doit mettre le linge à sècher
He has to put (hang) the laundry up to dry
Se mettre
Se mettre also has many different meanings.
1. to put oneself
- Mets-toi à côté de ton frère
Put yourself next to your brother, Go sit/stand next to your brother
Je dois me mettre à l'ombre
I have to get into the shade
(figurative)
Je ne sais pas où me mettre
I don't know where to look / what to do with myself
se mettre dans une situation délicate
to put/get oneself into a delicate situation
- Il va se mettre au froid demain
It's going to get/turn cold tomorrow
Il s'est mis au chaud
It got hot
- Il s'est enfin mis au travail
He finally started working
Je vais me mettre à la danse
I'm going to take up dancing
Quand vas-tu te mettre à étudier ?
When are you going to start / set about studying?
Expressions with mettre
- mettre à l'essai - to put to the test
mettre en relief - to accentuate, bring out, emphasize
Il y a mis le temps ! - He took his sweet time about it!
se mettre au régime - to go on a diet
More expressions with mettre
Conjugations
Present tense
- je mets
tu mets
il met
nous mettons
vous mettez
ils mettent
