  We present ultraviolet, optical, near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of
SN 2009N in NGC 4487. This object is a type II-P supernova with spectra
resembling those of subluminous II-P supernovae, while its bolometric
luminosity is similar to that of the intermediate luminosity SN 2008in. We
created SYNOW models of the plateau phase spectra for line identification and
to measure the expansion velocity. In the near-infrared spectra we find signs
indicating possible weak interaction between the supernova ejecta and the
pre-existing circumstellar material. These signs are also present in the
previously unpublished near-infrared spectra of SN 2008in. The distance to SN
2009N is determined via the expanding photosphere method and the standard
candle method as $D= 21.6 \pm 1.1\,{\mathrm {Mpc}}$. The produced nickel-mass
is estimated to be $\sim 0.020 \pm 0.004\,{\mathrm M_\odot}$. We infer the
physical properties of the progenitor at the explosion through hydrodynamical
modelling of the observables. We find the values of the total energy as $\sim
0.48 \times 10^{51}\, {\mathrm {erg}}$, the ejected mass as $\sim
11.5\,{\mathrm M_\odot}$, and the initial radius as $\sim 287\,{\mathrm
R_\odot}$.
