Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA |
|---|---|
| ponerse al día | /poˌneɾse al ˈdia/ |
| ponerse al tanto de | /poneɾse al tanto de/ (from spelling rules) |
These phrases are used when you want to be brought up to date with news, information or current events. You can use ponerse al día con alguien to specifically mean catching up with someone.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase ponerse al día literally translates to 'to put oneself to the day'.
Which one should you use?
Ponerse al día is typically used for catching up on general information, news or studies. In contrast, ponerse al tanto de implies becoming aware of a specific situation or a particular piece of news.
How does it change in a sentence?
Because ponerse is a pronominal verb, you must change the reflexive pronoun to match the subject, such as me pongo al día, te pones al día or se pone al día. When using ponerse al tanto de, the preposition de is required if you are specifying what you are catching up on, such as ponerse al tanto de las noticias.
How do you pronounce it?
/poˌneɾse al ˈdia/
Did you know?
- The phrase ponerse al día is a direct calque of the French expression mise à jour, which is also used in computing to mean 'update'.
- In Spanish, catching up is viewed as an action you perform on yourself, which is why the reflexive verb ponerse is mandatory.
- While ponerse al día refers to the 'day', it can be used to describe catching up on years of missed history or long-term absences.
Examples in context
- Tuvo que estudiar mucho para ponerse al día con sus compañeros de clase.She had to study hard to catch up with her classmates.This sentence is useful for showing how to use ponerse al día in the context of catching up with classmates.Tatoeba #2077736 by lazarus1907, translation #312581 by Hellerick
- Durante la reunión, necesito ponerme al corriente de los últimos avances del proyecto.During the meeting, I need to catch up on the latest project developments.
- ¿Hace cuánto que no nos vemos? ¡Tenemos que ponernos al día!How long has it been since we last saw each other? We need to catch up!
- Estaba de viaje la semana pasada, así que todavía debo ponerme al día con las noticias.I was traveling last week, so I still need to catch up with the news.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “catch up” translations and entries ponerse al día, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, día, ponerse al día, tanto, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
