Word usage
What is the difference between lugares and puestos
2 Answers
Hello, Kbarber.
Lugares, the plural form of lugar, by definition, means place (location, position, situation, or space).
Examples:
Location: La hamaca es la lugar perfecto para leer. (The hammock is the perfect place to read.)
Position: El equipo de Juan y el equipo de Ana están en una competencia feroz para primer lugar. (Juan's team and Ana's team are in a fierce competition for first place.)
Situation: Si te pusieras en mi lugar verías que no es fácil ser yo. (If you put yourself in my place, you'd see it isn't easy being me.)
Space: ¡Ven dentro! Hay un montón de espacio. (Come inside! There is plenty of space.)
Puestos, plural of puesto, means post (job, military, or place of origin).
Examples:
Job: Tengo un puesto muy bien pagado en la empresa. (I have a very well paid position at my company.)
Military: Las órdenes partían del puesto de mando. (The orders were issued at the command post.)
Place of origin: Todos tienen que devolver los libros a sus puestos. (Everyone must return the books to their place.)
One refers to the physical location of something and the other isn't necessarily all physical. My Spanish isn't the best, so I'd wait for other opinions before taking all this too seriously. 
Also, sorry I went a little overboard; I just couldn't think of a simpler way to answer. I tried to use some of the examples that are on this site to make it a bit easier to understand. Hope this helped!!
Buenos ejemplos, lace_660. Another usage of 'puesto' that I remember coming across is when referring to a stall or stand in a farmer's market, e.g. "Hay muchas verduras en estos puestos del mercado"
