Why "te" in "...ponte en contacto conmigo"

Question

"Por favor, ponte en contacto conmigo." Please contact me. This is a quote from Heidita's vocab list titled, "Have you created a vocabulary list? Please let me know "
[url=http://my.spanishdict.com/vocabulary/vocabulary/show'id=1710195%3ATermList%3A1165007]http://my.spanishdict.com/vocabulary/vocabulary/show'id=1710195%3ATermList%3A1165007[/url]

Why is "te" added to "pon"?

And what part of speech is "te" here, please? (Is it a reflexive pronoun? Is this the literal translation - Please put yourself in contact with me. )

And what is the Usted form'

Answer 1

Because "poner" is transitive, and transitive verbs require a direct object: the thing or person that you "put" (somewhere or to do something). If you say "Pon en contacto conmigo" you are saying "Put (something/someone) in contact with me", but you are making an incomplete sentence by not mentioning what or who are you putting in contact with me. Therefore, whether you call the verb pronominal (ponerse) or transitive reflexive, you need a "te" there to indicate that it is either that person himself who put himself in contact with you, or it is an intransitive verb (with a pronominal "te"), and therefore, you don't have to look for a direct object.

Answer 2

The "usted" equivalent would be:

Póngase en contacto conmigo.

Ponte en contacto. (tú)
Póngase en contacto. (usted)
Pongámonos en contacto. (nosotros)
Ponéos en contacto. (vosotros)
Pónganse en contacto. (ellos)

Answer 3

Thank you for the clarification on te, but what about the the 3rd person singular form since she wanted to know about about formal usage? How do you make the formal construction? If we don't call it pronomial, but do call it transitive refexive do we use the reflexive pronoun or the direct object pronoun? (se or lo/la)

lazarus1907 said:

Because "poner" is transitive, and transitive verbs require a direct object: the thing or person that you "put". If you say "Pon en contacto" you are saying "Put ''''' in contact", but you are making an incomplete sentence by not mentioning what or who are you putting in contact. Therefore, whether you call the verb pronominal (ponerse) or transitive reflexive, you need a "te" there to indicate that it is either that person himself/herself, or it is an intransitive verb, and therefore, you don't have to look for a direct object.

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Answer 4

it (te) is a reflexive pronoun (ponerse being a pronomial verb)

I believe (wait for confirmation) that all pronomial verbs usage (reflexive, reciprocal, etc.) use the reflexive pronoun.
the 3rd person reflexive pronoun is se (le is the 3rd person, singular, indirect object pronoun). Therefore, I believe it would be pongase en contacto conmigo, but , as I said, wait for confirmation.

Answer 5

2nd person sing. imperative of ponerse=ponte