Poder imperfect conjugation
Poder in the imperfect: podía, podías, podía, podíamos, podíais, podían.
- to be able to; can; may
- stem-changing (o→ue)
- Participle: podido
- Gerund: pudiendo
Imperfect imperfecto
| yo | podía |
|---|---|
| tú | podías |
| él/ella/usted | podía |
| nosotros | podíamos |
| vosotros | podíais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | podían |
How to use poder in the imperfect
The imperfect of poder is regular: podía, podías, podía, podíamos, podían. Use it to describe what someone was able or allowed to do as a general situation: "De niño no podía salir solo." It also works as a soft request or suggestion, similar to the conditional: "¿Podías pasarme la sal?" sounds casual and friendly in many regions.
Examples
Antes no podíamos trabajar desde casa.
Before, we couldn't work from home.
No podía creer lo que estaba viendo.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Desde la ventana se podía ver el mar.
You could see the sea from the window.
Quick check: poder in the imperfect
More poder tenses
- All poder tenses
- Poder present
- Poder preterite
- Poder future
- Poder conditional
- Poder present subjunctive
- Poder affirmative commands
Other verbs in the imperfect
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