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Podría / Podía / PudeThis is the place for questions about conjugations, verb tenses, adverbs, adjectives, word order, syntax and other grammar questions for English or Spanish. |
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#1
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Podría / Podía / Pude
Many times, I can’t get a feel for which form of the verb “poder” to use when I want to convey that "I could have" done something. Does the conjugation of the verb “poder” convey different meanings?
Allow me to start with these two examples first: I could have done it yesterday (because I had sufficient time and I was willing to do it) Podría haberlo hecho ayer Podía haberlo hecho ayer Pude haberlo hecho ayer I could have done it yesterday (I was able to do it because I finally felt well enough yesterday to do it) Podría haberlo hecho ayer Podía haberlo hecho ayer Pude haberlo hecho ayer Any and all input to help me understand which form of the verb to use is appreciated. |
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#2
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Quote:
By comparison, the imperfect focuses on actions or states without regard to their beginning or end. In the case of "poder", "podía" implies that circumstances made it possible, while "no podía" implies that circumstances made it impossible. |
#3
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Thank you, wrholt.
If I understand what you are saying, I need to chose between podía and podría because pude is not an option. Is there a difference in translation/meaning between podía and podría? |
#4
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Using your examples, "(yo) podía haberlo hecho ayer" says only that you had the capacity/ability to do it yesterday. By itself it doesn't imply anything about whether or not you did it. However, in some contexts "(yo) podría haberlo hecho ayer" implies that you did not do it in spite of the fact that you could have done it. One example is "(yo) podría haberlo hecho ayer si me hubieras dicho que era necesario hacerlo" = "I could have done it yesterday (OR I would have been able to do it yesterday) if you had told me that it was necessary to do it." In this sentence you can't use "podía" in place of "podría". Last edited by wrholt; December 14, 2019 at 11:11 PM. |
#5
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Thanks, wrholt. Your explanations help clear that up.
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