Pôr

Pôr means to put or to place. It is unique in the entire language: the only verb whose infinitive ends in -or rather than -ar, -er, or -ir. It is also wildly irregular — its stem shifts between ponh-, põe-/põ-, pus-, pun-, and por- across the tenses. And its infinitive carries a circumflex, pôr, to distinguish it from the very common preposition por (by, for, through). On top of all this, everyday Brazilians often sidestep it: in speech they reach for colocar or the casual botar instead. This page gives you the full paradigm anyway — because pôr powers a whole family of high-frequency compounds (compor, supor, propor, dispor) that conjugate exactly like it.

Why pôr matters even though you'll say colocar

You might wonder why you should memorize such a beast when colocar (a tidy regular -ar verb) covers most of the same ground. Three reasons. First, pôr survives in fixed expressions no Brazilian would change: pôr a mesa (set the table), pôr do sol (sunset), pôr em prática (put into practice), pôr fim a (put an end to). Second, its compounds are everywhere in writing and formal speech — supor (to suppose), propor (to propose), compor (to compose), dispor (to arrange/have available) — and they all follow this exact paradigm, so learning pôr unlocks a dozen verbs. Third, the participle posto appears constantly (posto que, isto posto, bem-posto). You will read and hear pôr daily even if you personally say colocar.

Presente do indicativo

Note the nasal diphthongs: põe (singular) and põem (plural) both take the tilde on the o. The eu form ponho uses the ponh- stem that also drives the present subjunctive.

Pretérito perfeito

The preterite runs on the pus- stem. The você/ele/ela form pôs takes a circumflex (parallel to pôde from poder).

Pretérito imperfeito

The imperfect uses the punh- stem. Mind the accent on púnhamos (nós).

Futuro do presente & futuro do pretérito (conditional)

Built on the infinitive base por- (no circumflex once an ending is added).

In everyday speech, the periphrastic vou pôr (or, more likely, vou colocar) replaces porei. (informal)

Presente do subjuntivo

Built on the ponh- stem (from ponho).

Imperfeito & futuro do subjuntivo

Both use the pus- stem.

Imperativo

The você/vocês/nós forms come from the ponh- subjunctive; the affirmative tu form is põe (from the indicative).

Non-finite forms

The participle posto is irregular (not "ponido"/"posido"). It surfaces in compound tenses (tinha posto = had put) and in set phrases like isto posto (this having been established) and posto que (given that).

Meaning, register, and the colocar/botar question

The core sense of pôr is to put or place something somewhere. But register matters a lot:

• pôr — neutral-to-formal in writing; in spoken BR it can sound slightly formal or even regional. (formal / regional)
• colocar — the everyday default in most of Brazil for "to put." Fully neutral, regular -ar verb. (neutral)
• botar — very common, casual, friendly. Bota mais um pratinho aí. (informal)

So while pôr a mesa (set the table) is fixed and natural, "put your shoes on" in casual speech is far more likely to be coloca o sapato or bota o sapato than põe o sapato.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Pôr is the only -or verb and changes stem by tense: ponho/põe (present), pus/pôs (preterite), punha (imperfect), ponha (present subj.), pusesse/puser (imperfect & future subj.).
• The infinitive pôr keeps its circumflex; the participle is the irregular posto.
• In everyday speech most Brazilians prefer colocar or botar, but pôr lives on in fixed phrases (pôr a mesa, pôr do sol).
• The compounds (supor, propor, compor, dispor) follow the same paradigm.