Pus os copos num tabuleiro e levei-os para a varanda.

They are both in the pretérito perfeito simples (the simple past / preterite).

• pus = I put
• levei = I took / carried

This tense is used for completed actions in the past. In this sentence, the speaker did two finished actions:

1. Pus os copos num tabuleiro
2. levei-os para a varanda

So the sentence is telling a short sequence of completed past events.

Because pôr (to put) is an irregular verb.

Its preterite forms are:

• eu pus
• tu puseste
• ele/ela/você pôs
• nós pusemos
• vós pusestes
• eles/elas/vocês puseram

So pus is simply the correct I form of pôr in the preterite.

Learners often expect something more regular, but this is one of those verbs you just need to learn as a set.

Num is a contraction of em + um.

• em = in / on / at
• um = a / one
• num = in a / on a

So:

• num tabuleiro = on a tray / in a tray depending on context

With trays, English normally says on a tray, but Portuguese often uses em in places where English uses either in or on.

Related forms:

• na = em + a
• no = em + o
• nuns = em + uns
• numas = em + umas

Because prepositions do not match exactly between the two languages.

In Portuguese, em is very common for location or placement, even when English prefers on. So pôr os copos num tabuleiro is perfectly natural.

A literal word-for-word translation may feel odd in English, but the Portuguese is standard.

Because -os is a direct object pronoun meaning them, referring back to os copos.

So:

• levei = I took / carried
• os = them
• levei-os = I took them

In European Portuguese, object pronouns are very often attached to the verb after it in normal affirmative main clauses. This is called enclisis.

So European Portuguese prefers:

• Levei-os para a varanda.

rather than:

• Os levei para a varanda. (not the normal choice here)

The hyphen is standard spelling when the pronoun is attached to the verb.

It refers to os copos.

• os copos = the glasses
• os = them (masculine plural direct object pronoun)

Since copos is masculine plural, the pronoun must also be masculine plural:

• o = him / it
• a = her / it
• os = them (masculine)
• as = them (feminine)

It could repeat the noun, but using the pronoun sounds more natural because the object has just been mentioned.

Compare:

• Pus os copos num tabuleiro e levei os copos para a varanda.
  This is grammatical, but repetitive.

• Pus os copos num tabuleiro e levei-os para a varanda.
  This is more natural.

Portuguese, like English, often uses a pronoun to avoid repetition.

Para here shows movement toward a destination:

• para a varanda = to the balcony / veranda

The idea is that the speaker carried the glasses from one place to another.

In many everyday contexts, para is the most natural choice for to.

You may also see à varanda in some contexts, but para a varanda is very straightforward and common when emphasizing destination.

It can mean either depending on context, but in European Portuguese it very often means balcony.

So in many everyday situations:

• varanda = balcony

English veranda usually suggests a porch-like covered outdoor area attached to a house, while Portuguese varanda often covers a wider range of outdoor platform/balcony spaces.

Because one noun is definite and the other is indefinite.

• os copos = the glasses
  These are specific glasses already known in the situation.

• num tabuleiro = on a tray / in a tray
  This introduces the tray less specifically, like a tray.

So the sentence is not saying the tray, but rather a tray.

Yes. A very natural alternative is:

• Coloquei os copos num tabuleiro e levei-os para a varanda.

Both are correct.

The difference is mostly one of style and verb choice:

• pôr = very common, basic verb for to put
• colocar = also common, sometimes slightly more formal or neutral

In everyday speech, pus is completely normal.

In European Portuguese, pus is pronounced roughly like poosh, but with a shorter vowel:

• pus ≈ poosh

More approximately in IPA: /puʃ/

The final s in this word sounds like sh in European Portuguese.

In connected speech, it sounds roughly like:

• luh-VAY-oosh

Very approximately in IPA: /lɨˈvɐj.uʃ/

A few useful points:

• levei has the stress on the second syllable.
• The -os pronoun is attached smoothly to the verb.
• In European Portuguese, the final s in os is usually pronounced like sh here.

So the attached pronoun is not pronounced separately as a fully stressed word.

Yes. E simply means and and links the two past actions:

• Pus os copos num tabuleiro
• e levei-os para a varanda

So the sentence structure is very straightforward: I did X and then I did Y.

The structure is:

• Pus = verb
• os copos = direct object
• num tabuleiro = place/result of placement
• e = and
• levei-os = second verb + object pronoun
• para a varanda = destination

So literally, the pattern is:

[I put] [the glasses] [on a tray] and [I took them] [to the balcony].

It is a very typical Portuguese narrative sentence: two completed actions joined by e.