Imperfect of Pôr | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

The verb pôr (to put / to place) is the last of the four verbs that are irregular in the imperfect tense. Its imperfect stem is punh-, built on the same -nh- pattern as tinha (ter) and vinha (vir). Once you learn this form, you have completed the full set of imperfect irregulars -- and every other verb in the language is perfectly regular in this tense.

Conjugation

Person	Form	English
eu	punha	I was putting / I used to put
tu	punhas	you were putting / you used to put
ele / ela / você	punha	he/she was putting; you used to put
nós	púnhamos	we were putting / we used to put
(vós)	(púnheis)	(you all were putting)
eles / elas / vocês	punham	they were putting; you all used to put

The stem punh- replaces the infinitive entirely -- nothing of pôr survives. The endings (-a, -as, -a, -amos, -am) are the same ones used by regular -er/-ir verbs in the imperfect, so the only thing to memorize is the stem itself.

💡

The written accent on púnhamos is mandatory -- it marks the stressed syllable. This matches the pattern of the other irregular imperfect verbs: éramos, tínhamos, vínhamos. The nós form always carries the accent; no other form in the conjugation does.

Habitual placing and putting

The most natural use of punha is to describe something someone used to put or place regularly.

Punha sempre as chaves na mesa.

I always used to put the keys on the table.

Tu punhas açúcar no café?

Did you used to put sugar in your coffee?

Habitual setting of the table

The expression pôr a mesa (to set the table) is extremely common in European Portuguese, and in the imperfect it describes a regular past routine.

Ela punha a mesa todos os dias às sete.

She used to set the table every day at seven.

Nós púnhamos a mesa enquanto a mãe cozinhava.

We used to set the table while mum cooked.

Background action in progress

Like all imperfect forms, punha can describe an action that was in progress when something else happened.

Enquanto eu punha o jantar na mesa, ele lavava os pratos.

While I was putting dinner on the table, he was washing the dishes.

Ela punha o casaco quando o telefone tocou.

She was putting on her coat when the phone rang.

Punha vs pus -- imperfect vs preterite

Both translate as "put" in English, but they describe different kinds of past. Punha (imperfect) is ongoing or habitual; pus (preterite) is a single completed action.

Punha sempre as chaves no bolso. (habitual) -- Pus as chaves no bolso. (one time)
Ela punha a mesa todos os dias. (routine) -- Ela pôs a mesa para o jantar. (specific occasion)
Eu punha o casaco quando saí. (ongoing) -- Pus o casaco e saí. (completed sequence)

💡

A practical test: if you can add "always" or "used to" and the sentence still makes sense, use the imperfect (punha). If the sentence reports a single completed action, use the preterite (pus). For the full preterite conjugation, see Preterite of Pôr.

Compounds of pôr

All verbs built on pôr follow exactly the same punh- pattern in the imperfect. Learn punha once and the compounds come free -- just add the prefix.

Verb	Meaning	eu	nós
compor	to compose	compunha	compúnhamos
propor	to propose	propunha	propúnhamos
supor	to suppose	supunha	supúnhamos
dispor	to arrange	dispunha	dispúnhamos
impor	to impose	impunha	impúnhamos
opor	to oppose	opunha	opúnhamos

Eu supunha que ele vinha mais tarde.

I supposed he was coming later.

O governo impunha regras muito rígidas.

The government used to impose very strict rules.

The four imperfect irregulars compared

With pôr covered, here is the complete set of irregular imperfect verbs in Portuguese. There are only four -- and three of them share the -nh- stem pattern.

Verb	Stem	eu	nós
ser	er-	era	éramos
ter	tinh-	tinha	tínhamos
vir	vinh-	vinha	vínhamos
pôr	punh-	punha	púnhamos

Notice that ser is the oddest of the four -- it does not use the -nh- pattern at all. The other three are parallel: tinh-, vinh-, punh-. If you can conjugate one, you can conjugate all three. And all four share the same endings as regular imperfect verbs -- the irregularity lies only in the stem.

Everything else is regular

This is the best news about the imperfect tense: now that you know ser, ter, vir, and pôr, every other Portuguese verb is 100% regular in the imperfect. Verbs that are wildly irregular in the present or preterite behave perfectly here:

Ele fazia exercício todas as manhãs.

He used to exercise every morning. (fazer -- regular in the imperfect)

Nós íamos à praia todos os verões.

We used to go to the beach every summer. (ir -- regular in the imperfect)

Fazer becomes fazia, poder becomes podia, ir becomes ia, dizer becomes dizia -- all following the standard -er/-ir imperfect endings with no surprises. The imperfect is the friendliest tense in Portuguese.

Common mistakes

1. Inventing forms like *poia or *ponhia. These do not exist. The imperfect of pôr always uses the stem punh-, never anything based directly on the infinitive pôr. Do not be tempted to build "regular" endings onto pô- -- the stem is simply punh-.

2. Confusing punha (imperfect) with pus (preterite). Punha describes ongoing or habitual past actions. Pus reports a single completed event. Saying Pus sempre as chaves na mesa is wrong if you mean a habitual action -- use Punha sempre as chaves na mesa.

3. Forgetting the accent on púnhamos. Writing punhamos without the accent shifts the stress to the wrong syllable. The accent on the ú is mandatory in the nós form, just as it is for tínhamos, vínhamos, and éramos.

4. Forgetting that compounds follow the same pattern. If pôr becomes punha, then propor becomes propunha, supor becomes supunha, and so on. Do not try to invent separate conjugations for compound verbs -- they always mirror the base verb.

For the overall imperfect tense system, see Imperfect Overview. For the other irregular imperfect verbs, see Imperfect of Ser. For the present-tense forms of this verb, see Present Indicative of Pôr.