poder means: to be able
Click to see all conjugation charts of poder in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we are going to learn how to conjugate the verb poder in the Imperfecto tense of the Indicativo mood. It means we will see step by step how to create and translate forms of each grammatical person.

This lesson is specifically about the poder conjugation. For an overview of Simple Tenses conjugation see the Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

You may also see this Video Presentation on how to conjugate verbs in Imperfecto. It’s embedded below, but using the above link you will find more detailed information on conjugation in this tense and explanation of special cases and exceptions.

How to translate Imperfecto to English

Note that the English phrases provided below next to each conjugation are not direct translations from Spanish to English. They are usually the closest general equivalents. The example differences are:

• In Spanish conjugation, there is the form usted in the third person singular. But this person does not translate to the English third person singular. It translates to the so called formal you and uses the inflected form which is most often represented as he/she/it in English conjugation charts.
• Similar situation happens in the third person plural, where ustedes translates to the English plural formal you but uses the form which corresponds to the they form in English.
• Tenses are used differently in Spanish and English, so the actual translation should always take into account the context and focus on translating the meaning, not just words.
• In both languages each verb may have multiple meanings and not every meaning translates directly to the other language. Here also, the context and focusing on the particular meaning helps to create the most accurate translation.

Note the timeline

The ability to correctly locate the intended position on the timeline is an important skill for the right choice of tenses. So pay attention to the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while speaking, listening, writing and reading. After a bit practice you’ll be able to select the right tense to use much easier.

Step by step instructions

Imperfecto belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of the inflected forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in the Spanish language, where each conjugated form consists of two words.The verb poder has a completely regular conjugation in the Imperfecto tense of the Indicativo mood. It means this verb just follows the general rules for its group (-er) without any exceptions or spelling corrections. This tense is really easy, because there are only three irregular verbs! The basis for the conjugation in this tense is the stem of the verb, so we begin by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s easy to do. Simply remove two letters from the end of the infinitive to get the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So for poder:

• the stem is: pod-
• and the ending is: -er

Use the stem pod- in each subject as the basis for conjugations, the common prefix that each of the forms begins with. Next, add to this regular stem the endings specific to each person. Analyze the image showing all six endings. Notice both the shapes and colors of the letters. It should help you find patterns and make it easier to remember these endings.

Also note that in verb groups -er and -ir all six endings in both Pretéterito Imperfecto and Condicional tenses are identical. Good tip to remember! The only difference is that the Condicional uses the entire infinitive as the stem.Each grammatical person has a specific ending in each of the three conjugation groups -ar, -er, -ir. Add the regular ending -ía for the first person singular to create podía:

• yo podía – I was able

And similarly add the regular ending -ías for the second person singular to create podías:

• tú podías – you were able

Similarly add the regular ending -ía for the third person singular to create podía:

• él podía – he was able
• ella podía – she was able
• usted podía – (formal) you were able

One more time add the regular ending -íamos for the first person plural to create podíamos:

• nosotros podíamos – we were able
• nosotras podíamos – (feminine) we were able

And once more add the regular ending -íais for the second person plural to create podíais:

• vosotros podíais – (plural) you were able
• vosotras podíais – (feminine, plural) you were able

Once more add the regular ending -ían for the third person plural to create podían:

• ellos podían – they were able
• ellas podían – (feminine) they were able
• ustedes podían – (formal, plural) you were able

Hurray! The conjugation is now done. The final result looks as follows:

yo	podía	I was able
tú	podías	you were able
él/ella/usted	podía	he/she/it was able
nosotros/nosotras	podíamos	we were able
vosotros/vosotras	podíais	you were able
ellos/ellas/ustedes	podían	they were able

Click to see all conjugation charts of poder in every tense
But do not end your session yet – it is very important to repeat and practice the material in order to remember it. Check below for examples and some links.

Example sentences

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test your skills check this Conjugation Exercise or the Memory Game To see other conjugation lessons for this verb choose another tense: PresentePretéritoCondicionalFuturoPretérito Perfecto CompuestoPretérito PluscuamperfectoFuturo PerfectoCondicional PerfectoPretérito Perfecto Compuesto (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto A (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto B (subjuntivo)Futuro Perfecto (subjuntivo)  For exercises and examples related to poder visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for poder visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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