Turn this distinction into automatic recall
Falando teaches Brazilian Portuguese through grammar, vocabulary, audio, examples, and spaced review, so confusing pairs stop feeling like guesses.
Quick answer
Por is a preposition; pôr is the verb “to put” and keeps its circumflex.
A reliable test is to identify the job of the word before translating from English.
What each word does
por
by, through, or for
Use por for the unaccented preposition expressing route, cause, exchange, agent, and other relations.
pôr
to put
Use pôr for the infinitive verb meaning place or set.
How to choose
- por: Choose por if the sentence points to the unaccented preposition expressing route, cause, exchange, agent, and other relations.
- pôr: Choose pôr if the sentence points to the infinitive verb meaning place or set.
Examples
Passamos por Belo Horizonte.
We passed through Belo Horizonte.
Vou pôr os livros na estante.
I am going to put the books on the shelf.
Common trap
Conjugated forms such as põe and puseram reveal the verb. The infinitive accent distinguishes it from the preposition.
Practice it in context
Pick one sentence from your real life and write it twice: once with por, then once with pôr. If both versions feel possible, name the meaning shift.
Turn this distinction into automatic recall
Falando teaches Brazilian Portuguese through grammar, vocabulary, audio, examples, and spaced review, so confusing pairs stop feeling like guesses.