Portuguese Phrase
Como você põe alguém em espera?
Meaning
The sentence asks for the method or steps to place a person on hold during a phone conversation. It is a practical question often heard in customer‑service training or casual chats about phone etiquette.
When to use
Use this phrase when you need instructions on how to put a caller on hold, whether you’re a call‑center agent, a friend helping another with a phone, or simply curious about the feature on your device.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Comovocêpõealguémemespera?
Como (question word)
Used to ask 'how' and introduces a question about manner or method.
você (subject pronoun)
Second‑person singular pronoun; in Brazil it is the most common way to address someone informally.
põe (verb pôr, 3rd‑person singular present)
Irregular verb; note the circumflex on the 'o' (põe) – the form without the accent (pôe) is incorrect.
alguém (indefinite pronoun)
Means ‘someone’; it can be used with any verb that takes a direct object.
em espera (prepositional phrase)
Literally ‘in wait’; together they form the idiomatic expression meaning ‘on hold’ (as in a phone call).
🗨In Conversation
Como você põe alguém em espera?
How do you put someone on hold?
Eu pressiono o botão de ‘hold’ no meu telefone e a música continua tocando.
I press the ‘hold’ button on my phone and the music keeps playing.
✕Common Mistakes
Como você pôe alguém em espera?
The verb ‘pôr’ in the present tense is written ‘põe’ with a circumflex; ‘pôe’ is a misspelling.
Como você põe alguém, espera?
Do not separate the preposition and noun with a comma or change the order; the fixed expression is ‘em espera’.
Como põe alguém em espera?
In very informal spoken Brazilian Portuguese you might drop the pronoun, but in a written question it should stay.
↔Alternatives
Como colocar alguém em espera?
How to put someone on hold?
Como deixar alguém em espera?
How to leave someone on hold?
Qual o jeito de colocar alguém em espera?
What’s the way to put someone on hold?
Cultural Tip
In Brazil the most common verb for this action is ‘colocar’ (to place). ‘Pôr alguém em espera’ is perfectly correct but sounds a bit more formal or technical. When you’re on a call with a Brazilian, you’ll often hear the phrase ‘colocar em espera’ or simply ‘colocar o cliente em espera’. Also, many phone systems play a short jingle while the other party is on hold, which is considered polite etiquette.