irregular
poder
to be able to, can
Present
| Person | Form | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| yo | puedo | |
| tú | puedes | |
| él, ella, usted | puede | |
| nosotros | podemos | |
| ellos, ustedes | pueden | |
| vosotros, Spain only | podéis |
Past, the preterite
The tense for a finished action at a definite time. It is the past you need first.
| Person | Form | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| yo | pude | |
| tú | pudiste | |
| él, ella, usted | pudo | |
| nosotros | pudimos | |
| ellos, ustedes | pudieron |
The thing that catches people out
The o turns into ue everywhere except the we form, which is the commonest stem change in the language. Once you see it in poder you will recognise it in dormir, volver and contar.
In a sentence
¿puede repetir?could you repeat that?
no puedo hoyI cannot today