Fala Gringo › Verbs › pôr
pôr — to put, to place
Full conjugation of pôr in the tenses that matter for everyday speech, with pronunciation hints in the Rio (carioca) accent and example sentences the way Brazilians actually talk — not textbook European Portuguese.
In spoken Brazilian Portuguese it is interchangeable with botar and colocar — the drill accepts any of them.
How to use pôr in Brazilian Portuguese
Pôr is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to put, to place. It is irregular throughout — the infinitive does not even end in -ar, -er or -ir — so every form below is worth learning by heart.
Three tenses do almost all the work in conversation. The presente covers the present and the near future: eu ponho — I put. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu pus — I put. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu punha — I used to put.
Said the Rio way, ponho sounds like POH-nyoo. The nós form pomos ends in the carioca “sh”, POH-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | ponhoI put | POH-nyoo | Eu ponho a comida na mesa. |
| você / ele / ela | põeyou put | POYNG | Você põe sal? |
| nós | pomoswe put | POH-moosh | Nós pomos as malas no carro. |
| vocês / eles / elas | põemyou all put | POYNG | Vocês põem a mesa? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | pusI put | POOSH | Eu pus a chave na mesa. |
| você / ele / ela | pôsyou put | POHS | Você pôs sal na comida? |
| nós | pusemoswe put | poo-ZEH-moosh | Nós pusemos as malas no carro. |
| vocês / eles / elas | puseramyou all put | poo-ZEH-rahng | Vocês puseram tudo no lugar? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | punhaI used to put | POO-nyah | Eu punha açúcar no café antes. |
| você / ele / ela | punhayou used to put | POO-nyah | Você punha tudo na mochila? |
| nós | púnhamoswe used to put | POO-nyah-moosh | Nós púnhamos os livros na estante. |
| vocês / eles / elas | punhamyou all used to put | POO-nyahng | Vocês punham gelo na água? |
More “Ações e movimentos” verbs
- trazer to bring
- colocar to put, to place
- tirar to take (photo, vacation), to take off, to remove
- deixar to leave (behind), to let
- passar to pass, to spend (time)
- parar to stop
- continuar to continue
- mudar to change, to move (house)
- correr to run
- sentar to sit (down)
- fugir to run away, to escape
- cair to fall
- andar to walk, to go around
- botar to put (colloquial)
- descer to go down, to get off
- partir to leave, to depart
- subir to go up, to climb
- virar to turn (a corner), to become