Pôr in Preterite

In Portuguese, we use the Pretérito Perfeito for completed actions. These are things that happened once and ended. The verb pôr undergoes a radical stem change here. The letter 'o' vanishes. A 'u' takes its place. This is not just for style. It follows an ancient Latin pattern. All you need to remember is the "PU" sound. If you hear "PU," you are likely in the past. This change happens in almost every person. Except for one special case with a hat. Yes, a literal accent mark. It is like the verb is wearing a disguise. But the goal remains the same. You are describing where something was placed. It is short, quick, and very common.

1. 1To build this verb, follow these steps. Remember the root is now pus-.
2. 2For Eu (I), add nothing extra to the new root. It becomes pus.
3. 3For Tu (You - informal), add este. It becomes puseste.
4. 4For Você/Ele/Ela (You/He/She), keep the 'o' but add a hat. It is pôs.
5. 5For Nós (We), add emos. It becomes pusemos.
6. 6For Vocês/Eles/Elas (You all/They), add eram. It becomes puseram.
7. 7Wait, where did the vós form go? We usually skip it in modern conversation. Unless you are visiting a very old village or reading the Bible. For most of us, these five forms are the gold standard. Notice how pôs is the only one that keeps the 'o'. It needs that circumflex accent (^) to stay long and closed. Without it, it just feels lost.

Use this when you finished an action in the past.

• Physical placement: Use it when you put an object somewhere. "I put the keys on the table." Pus as chaves na mesa.
• Clothing: Use it when you put on an outfit. "She put on her best dress." Ela pôs o seu melhor vestido.
• Setting things: Use it for specific chores. "We set the table at eight." Pusemos a mesa às oito.
• Abstract ideas: Use it for feelings or efforts. "They put a lot of effort into the project." Puseram muito esforço no projeto.
• The Sun: Use the reflexive pôr-se for the sunset. "The sun set early yesterday." O sol pôs-se cedo ontem.

Imagine you are at a job interview. You might say, "I put all my skills to use." Pus todas as minhas competências em prática. It sounds professional and decisive.

Do not use this for habits. If you used to put your shoes in the closet every day, stop. The Pretérito Perfeito is for a specific moment. For habits, you need the Pretérito Imperfeito (punha).

• Ongoing actions: "I was putting the dishes away when you called." Use estava a pôr instead.
• Future plans: Even if it is a sure thing, use the future or ir + pôr.
• Description: If you are describing a scene, use the Imperfeito.

Think of the Pretérito Perfeito like a single snapshot in a photo album. It is one moment, captured and done. It is not a video of a recurring event.

One big trap is the spelling of pus. People often want to write puz with a 'z'. Do not do it. It is always an 's'. Another classic is forgetting the accent on pôs. Without that little hat, it looks like a preposition or a typo.

• Mixing with Poder: Puseram (they put) sounds like puderam (they could). This leads to funny looks at the supermarket.
• Overusing Colocar: Many learners use colocar because it sounds like "locate." It is correct, but pôr is much more natural in speech.
• The "Tu" form: People often forget the este ending. They might try pôste. That is not a word. Stick to puseste. It feels longer, but it is the right way. Even native speakers might skip the 's' in pusemos sometimes. Keep yours crisp to sound like a pro.

Let us compare pôr with its cousin colocar. Colocar is regular. It is like the boring accountant of verbs. Pôr is the artist. Use colocar for formal documents or very precise positioning. Use pôr for everything else.

What about dar? Sometimes they overlap. But pôr is about location. Dar is about giving.

Compare pôs and pos. Pôs is "he put." Pós (with an open accent) means "after" or "powders." See how one little line changes the whole meaning? It is like a grammar traffic light. Green means go, but the wrong accent means you are talking about baby powder instead of your weekend plans.