Preterite of Pôr

The verb pôr (to put / to place) is one of the most irregular verbs in Portuguese. In the preterite, its stem changes completely -- from pôr to pus- -- with no trace of the infinitive left. The third-person singular pôs carries a circumflex, and the entire paradigm belongs to the "strong" preterite family. Because pôr has a large family of compound verbs that all follow the same pattern, learning these forms unlocks compor, propor, supor, and many more.

Conjugation

This is a strong preterite with the stem pus- throughout, except for the third-person singular pôs, which has its own vowel. The endings follow the standard strong preterite set: -e (zero for eu), -este, -e (zero), -emos, (-estes), -eram. Notice that the stem changes completely from pôr to pus- -- there is nothing regular about this verb in the preterite.

Putting and placing in the past

The most basic use of pôr in the preterite -- saying where someone put something.

Setting the table

The expression pôr a mesa (to set the table) is one of the most common uses of this verb in everyday European Portuguese.

Pôr-se a -- starting to do something

The reflexive construction pôr-se a + infinitive means "to start doing something," often with a sense of suddenness. In the preterite, it reports that someone suddenly began an action.

Compounds of pôr

All verbs built on pôr follow exactly the same preterite pattern. Learn pus/pôs once and the compounds come free -- just add the prefix.

Other compounds follow the same rule: impor (to impose) -- impus, impôs, impuseram; opor (to oppose) -- opus, opôs, opuseram; expor (to expose) -- expus, expôs, expuseram.

Pôs vs pós -- the accent that matters

These two words look almost identical but are entirely different. Pôs (with a circumflex) is the third-person preterite of pôr. Pós- (with an acute accent) is a prefix meaning "after."

The circumflex on pôs marks a closed vowel sound, while the acute on pós- marks an open one. In careful speech, they sound different -- but even when the distinction blurs, context always makes the meaning clear.

The pus-/pôs- pattern among strong preterites

Like other strong preterites, pôr shows a vowel alternation between the eu and ele forms. This is a defining feature of the group.

Notice that pôr and poder share the same vowel pattern (u in the eu form, ô in the ele form), while fazer and ter share another (i in the eu form, e in the ele form). These pairs can help reinforce your memory of both verbs.

Common mistakes

1. Using regular endings. Forms like pôri or pôreu do not exist. The stem changes completely to pus- and the endings are those of the strong preterite group. Nothing about the infinitive pôr survives in the preterite.

2. Forgetting the circumflex on pôs. Writing pos instead of pôs drops the accent that distinguishes this verb form. The circumflex is mandatory on the third-person singular.

3. Confusing pus the verb with pus the noun. The word pus also exists as a noun meaning "pus" (the medical term). They are spelled identically but are unrelated. Context always makes the meaning obvious -- Pus o copo na mesa can only mean "I put the glass on the table."

4. Forgetting the circumflex on compound forms. The ele/você forms of compounds also carry the circumflex: compôs, propôs, dispôs. Dropping it is a spelling error, just as with pôs itself.

For the full preterite system, see Preterite Overview. For the present-tense forms of this verb, see Present Indicative of Pôr. For another strong preterite verb with a similar vowel pattern, see Preterite of Fazer.