pôr

Pôr is a Portuguese verb meaning to put or to place. It is widely used in everyday speech with a variety of senses, from putting an object somewhere to setting up or activating something. Common expressions include pôr a mesa (to set the table), pôr em prática (to put into practice), and pôr-se a fazer algo (to begin doing something). The verb can also express changes of state, as in pôr alguém feliz (to make someone happy) or pôr fim a algo (to put an end to something). In some contexts, especially informal speech, pôr may appear with nuances of “to place or apply,” while verbs like colocar or colocar-se are often used as synonyms in more formal or specific senses.

Etymology and orthography: Pôr derives from Latin ponere. The word carries a circumflex on the o (pô r) to distinguish it from the preposition por. This diacritic helps prevent confusion between the verb and the preposition por, as they are homographs in spelling but functionally different.

Conjugation and usage notes: Pôr is irregular and shows notable variation across tenses and dialects. In the present indicative, forms include ponho, pões, põe, pomos, pondes, põem. The simple past (preterite) includes pus, puseste, pôs, pusemos, pusestes, puseram. The gerund is pondo, and the past participle is posto (as in tenho posto, had put). In many Brazilian varieties, the future and some past forms align with more regular patterns, while European Portuguese retains the traditional irregular forms. The verb is frequently used with reflexive forms (pôr-se) to indicate beginning or taking a stance, such as pôr-se a rir (to start laughing) or pôr-se em posição.

See also: Por vs. pôr: por is a preposition, while pôr is a verb; their distinction is essential in spelling and meaning. Common synonyms include colocar, colocar-se, colocar em prática.