poder Imperfect Conjugation
poder — to be able to
Poder is regular in the imperfect: podía, podías, podía, podíamos, podíais, podían.
poder Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe a past ability or state of being able to do something. Unlike the preterite, it doesn't focus on whether the action was actually completed.
Notes on poder in the Imperfect
Poder is completely regular in the imperfect. It follows the standard -er verb pattern.
Example Sentences
De niño, no podía nadar bien.
As a child, I wasn't able to swim well.
yo
Ellos no podían ver nada en la oscuridad.
They couldn't see anything in the dark.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Sabíamos que podías hacerlo.
We knew you were able to do it.
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Confusing 'podía' with 'pude'.
Correct: podía (ongoing ability) vs pude (managed to do it once)
Why: In English, both are 'could', but Spanish distinguishes between having the skill (imperfect) and the specific act of succeeding (preterite).
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: puedo
Poder is an o-to-ue stem-changer: puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podéis, pueden.
Preterite
yo: pude
Poder is highly irregular in the preterite, using a 'pud-' stem: pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron.
Future
yo: podré
Poder has an irregular stem in the future: podré, podrás, podrá, podremos, podréis, podrán.
Conditional
yo: podría
Poder uses the irregular 'podr-' stem: podría, podrías, podría, podríamos, podríais, podrían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: pueda
The present subjunctive follows the 'pued-' stem: pueda, puedas, pueda, podamos, podáis, puedan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: pudiera
This tense uses the 'pud-' stem from the preterite: pudiera, pudieras, pudiera, pudiéramos, pudierais, pudieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: puede
The imperative of poder is rarely used, but follows the present subjunctive: puede, pueda, podamos, poded, puedan.
Negative Imperative
yo: no puedas
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive: no puedas, no pueda, no podamos, no podáis, no puedan.