In the sense of placing or positioning an object somewhere, the word “to put” is tricky in German. Although “platzieren” and “positionieren” can be used, these words are somewhat formal and not too common in everyday usage. The word “hintun” (essentially “to do something somewhere”), on the other hand, is quite informal.

Rather, the most common way to indicate that something is placed somewhere depends on the position that the object has once it’s been placed. For example, if the thing ends up lying somewhere, the word is “legen” (“to lay”, not to be confused with “liegen”, which means “to lie”), if the object comes to a rest in a standing position the word is “stellen” (not to be confused with “stehen”, which is “to stand”), if it’s hanging the word is “hängen”, if it’s plugged or stuck somewhere the word is “stecken”, if it’s sitting the word is “setzen” (not to be confused with “sitzen”, which is “to sit”). For grammar buffs it is important to note that such words take the accusative, whereas their counterparts that indicate the position are in dative:

– “Ich lege den Stift auf den Tisch.” – “I am putting/laying the pen onto the table.”
– “Der Stift liegt auf dem Tisch.” – “The pen is (lying) on the table.”
– “Ich stelle das Buch in das Regal.” – “I am putting/setting the book into the shelf.”
– “Das Buch steht in dem Regal.” – “The book is (standing) in the shelf.”
– “Ich hänge das Bild an die Wand.” – “I am putting/hanging the picture onto the wall.”
– “Das Bild hängt an der Wand.” – “The picture is hanging on the wall.”
– “Ich stecke den USB-Stick in den Computer.” – “I am putting/sticking the flashdrive into the computer.”
– “Der USB-Stick steckt in dem Computer.” – “The flashdrive is (sticking) in the computer.”

Note: “To put on” in the sense of “to dress” is “anziehen” in German: “Ich ziehe Jeans an.” – “I am putting on jeans.”