Perhaps when you learned how to say to put in Portuguese, you learned it as colocar, or even the nasty verb pôr. But when Brazilians speak in their day-to-day lives, most of us will use botar. So I’ve written a few sentences with botar, because that’s probably what you’re going to hear when two Brazilians are talking to each other.
Learning the verb botar will greatly increase your ability to understand spoken Brazilian Portuguese and sound more natural when speaking Portuguese. Like most verbs in Brazilian Portuguese, botar has many meanings. Here, I am using the most common one, which has the same meaning as to put in English. Let’s get to it.
Botar: to move something into a place or position.
In terms of use and formality
botar→ colloquial and common
colocar→ neutral and common
pôr→ formal, but some smart-panties like to use it to sound smart
Eu vou botar na minha lista de tarefas.
I’ll put it on my to-do list.
Bota um sorriso no rosto meu amigo!
Put a smile on your face, my friend!
Ele vai botar os livros na mesa.
He’ll put the books on the table.
Eles vão botar fogo na barraca.
They will set fire to the tent. (lit. put fire on the tent)
Minha mulher botou as verduras na geladeira.
My wife put(past tense) the vegetables in the fridge.
A gente botou o carro pra dentro.
We put(past tense) the car inside.
A gente bota comida pros gatos todo dia.
We put food out for the cats every day.
Eles botaram ketchup na pizza.
They put(past tense) ketchup on the pizza.
Eles botaram gelo na caixa térmica.
They put(past tense) ice in the cooler.
Eu pedi pra botarem um piano na sala.
I asked them to put a piano in the living room.
O gerente botou ele no lugar dele.
The manager put(past tense) him in his place.
Se bota no meu lugar.
Put yourself in my shoes(lit. in my place).
Eu botei o quadro na cozinha.
I put the painting in the kitchen.
Ela queria botar o filho em primeiro.
She wanted to put her son first.
Minha avó botava mel no café.
My grandmother used to put honey in her coffee.
Eles botavam muito sal na comida.
They used to put a lot of salt in the food.
Ela sempre botava a culpa em mim.
She always used to put the blame on me.
That’s it! Just to wrap things up, I want to make it clear that although botar is colloquial, it’s not slang. You can use it in any casual conversation, so don’t be afraid to use it. Practice the examples out loud, listen to the audios until they stick, and you’re gonna start noticing it everywhere. Te vejo no próximo post!
That’s it! Just to wrap things up, I want to make it clear that although botar is colloquial, it’s not slang. You can use it in any casual conversation, so don’t be afraid to use it. Practice the examples out loud, listen to the audios until they stick, and you’re gonna start noticing it everywhere.
If you want to keep exploring verbs in Brazilian Portuguese, take a look at dar and fazer. Te vejo no próximo post!