{"id":11680,"date":"2016-05-20T16:41:54","date_gmt":"2016-05-20T14:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=11680"},"modified":"2016-05-20T16:41:54","modified_gmt":"2016-05-20T14:41:54","slug":"i-could-study-italian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/i-could-study-italian\/","title":{"rendered":"I Could Study Italian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let’s continue our series on the conjugation and use of modal verbs. Following on from the first two articles about the verb dovere<\/strong>, which you can revise here: I Must Study Italian<\/a><\/strong><\/span> and I Should Have Studied Italian<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, today we’re going to look at the verb potere<\/strong> (to be able) with some practical examples of how it’s used.<\/p>\n

Indicativo Presente<\/span><\/strong> (present indicative):<\/span>
\nio posso, tu puoi, lui pu\u00f2, noi possiamo, voi potete, loro possono<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Examples:
\npuoi<\/span> passarmi il sale per favore?<\/strong> = can you pass me the salt, please?
\nalla Pinacoteca Nazionale di Parma si pu\u00f2<\/span> ammirare la Scapigliata di Leonardo<\/strong> = at the National Gallery in Parma one can admire Leonardo’s Scapigliata
\ndai, che possiamo<\/span> farcela!<\/strong> = come on, we can do it!<\/p>\n

Indicativo Imperfetto<\/strong> (imperfect indicative):<\/span>
\nio potevo, tu potevi, lui poteva, noi potevamo, voi potevate, loro potevano<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Examples:
\nquando ero bambina non potevo<\/span> addormentarmi se prima non avevo detto la preghiera della buona notte<\/strong> = when I was a child I couldn’t fall asleep if I hadn’t said my good night prayer first
\nl’aria era cos\u00ec limpida che all’orizzonte si poteva<\/span> vedere l’isola d’Elba<\/strong> = the air was so clear that you could see the Isola d’Elba on the horizon
\nc’era cos\u00ec tanto chiasso che non potevamo<\/span> sentire quello che diceva l’annunciatore<\/strong> = It was so noisy that we couldn’t hear what the announcer was saying<\/p>\n

To find out more about the imperfect indicative see this post: Indicativo Imperfetto<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n