poder Preterite Conjugation
poder — to be able to
Poder is highly irregular in the preterite, using a 'pud-' stem: pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron.
poder Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
In the preterite, 'poder' often means 'managed to' or 'succeeded in doing' something specific. It implies the action was actually completed, rather than just having the general ability.
Notes on poder in the Preterite
This is a 'U-stem' irregular verb. The stem changes from 'pod-' to 'pud-', and it uses special endings (-e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron) without any written accents.
Example Sentences
Por fin pude terminar la tarea.
I finally managed to finish the homework.
yo
¿Pudiste encontrar tus llaves?
Were you able to find your keys?
tú
No pudieron venir a la fiesta.
They couldn't (and didn't) come to the party.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'podí' or 'podió'.
Correct: pude / pudo
Why: Learners often try to apply regular -er endings, but 'poder' undergoes a radical stem change to 'pud-' in this tense.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: puedo
Poder is an o-to-ue stem-changer: puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podéis, pueden.
Imperfect
yo: podía
Poder is regular in the imperfect: podía, podías, podía, podíamos, podíais, podían.
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.