B1 · Verbs
Pude o podía: los dos pasados de poder
Poder is the verb where the preterite and the imperfect pull furthest apart. Podía describes an ability or a possibility, and says nothing about whether anyone used it. Pude reports a single occasion and says the thing came off. English could covers both, which is why the mistake is so persistent: I could swim at five is podía, and I could open the door is pude — and only the second one tells you the door opened.
podía — the ability existed
- De niño podía correr durante horas.
- Podía verlo desde la ventana.
- El señor preguntó si yo podía hacerlo.
- Tenía un avión que podía volar de noche.
- No podía dormir con ese ruido.
pude — the thing happened, once
- Al final pude abrir la puerta.
- Pude hablar con el director el martes.
- El señor preguntó si pude hacerlo.
- El avión pudo despegar pese a la niebla.
- No pude dormir anoche.
Pude means you managed it
In the preterite, poder stops meaning to be able and starts meaning to manage, to pull off. It reports the outcome of one attempt.
- Después de media hora pude abrir la puerta.After half an hour I managed to open the door. · and it opened
- Podía abrir la puerta con esa llave.I could open the door with that key. · the key worked, but we do not know if I used it
- Pude hablar con ella antes de que se fuera.I managed to speak to her before she left.
The negative splits even harder
No pude is a failed attempt: you tried and it did not work. No podía is an ongoing inability, and often explains something else rather than reporting it.
- No pude dormir anoche.I could not get to sleep last night. · I tried
- No podía dormir con ese ruido.I could not sleep with that noise. · a state, and usually the reason for something
- No pudo entrar: la puerta estaba cerrada.He could not get in: the door was locked. · one occasion, one failure
Your two questions
Both of these are correct Spanish and they ask different things. The first asks about your capacity or your willingness; the second asks about the outcome of something already attempted.
- El señor preguntó si yo podía hacerlo.The man asked whether I could do it. · can you, are you able, would you
- El señor preguntó si pude hacerlo.The man asked whether I had managed to do it. · asked afterwards, about the result
Describing a thing, not an event
This is where the second pair goes wrong. A relative clause that describes what something is like needs the imperfect, because a property is not an event. The preterite turns it into one occasion, which is odd as a description of a possession.
- Tenía un avión que podía volar de noche.I had a plane that could fly at night. · what the plane was capable of
- Tuve un avión que pudo volar de noche.I had a plane that managed to fly at night. · grammatical, but it now reports one flight
- El avión pudo despegar pese a la niebla.The plane managed to take off despite the fog. · here the event reading is the one you want
Requests and suggestions
Only the imperfect and the conditional work for asking politely. The preterite cannot make a request, because it reports something finished.
- ¿Podías ayudarme un momento?Could you help me a moment? · softer than puedes
- ¿Podrías ayudarme?Could you help me? · softer still
- ¿Pudiste ayudarme?Did you manage to help me? · not a request at all
Mistakes to avoid
De niño pude nadar muy bien.
De niño podía nadar muy bien.
A childhood ability is a state, not an occasion.
Después de una hora podía abrir la puerta.
Después de una hora pude abrir la puerta.
Después de una hora marks the moment it finally worked.
Tuve un avión que pudo volar.
Tenía un avión que podía volar.
A relative clause describing a property takes the imperfect.
¿Pudiste pasarme la sal?
¿Podrías pasarme la sal?
The preterite cannot ask for something; it reports a result.
No podía terminar el examen, me faltó tiempo.
No pude terminar el examen, me faltó tiempo.
One exam, one failed attempt.
Watch out
Saber, querer and conocer behave the same way: supe is the moment you found out, sabía is the state of knowing; quiso is an attempt, quería an intention; conocí is meeting someone, conocía is already knowing them. If you have those, poder is the same rule applied to ability.
Try it
De niño ___ correr durante horas.
Al final ___ hablar con el director.
No ___ dormir anoche, di vueltas hasta las tres.
No ___ dormir con ese ruido, así que me mudé.
Tenía un coche que ___ llegar a doscientos.
¿___ ayudarme un momento?