{"id":12579,"date":"2019-06-12T16:35:32","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T20:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/?p=12579"},"modified":"2019-06-12T16:35:32","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T20:35:32","slug":"spanish-power-verbs-poder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/spanish-power-verbs-poder\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish Power Verbs – Poder"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’re a beginner with learning Spanish, a good strategy is to master some power verbs. These are verbs that are used very frequently in daily life, such as necesitar<\/strong><\/a> (to need), querer<\/strong><\/a> (to want), and gustar<\/strong><\/a> (to like). Today we’re going to look at another Spanish power verb – poder<\/strong> (can\/be able to).<\/p>\n

Conjugation in Simple Present<\/h2>\n
\"Spanish

Ellos pueden tocar la guitarra muy bien.<\/p><\/div>\n

To keep it simple, I’m going to stick with the simple present tense for this post. This post is aimed at beginners who are trying to build confidence to speak in Spanish. If you’re a more advanced learner, you can find plenty of posts on here that go into more advanced grammar. Here’s the simple present conjugation for the verb poder<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Yo puedo
\nT\u00fa puedes
\nUsted puede
\n\u00c9l puede
\nElla puede
\nNosotros podemos
\nUstedes pueden
\nEllos\/ellas pueden<\/div>
I can
\nYou can (familiar)
\nYou can (formal)
\nHe can
\nShe can
\nWe can
\nYou can (plural)
\nThey can<\/div>
<\/div><\/p>\n

Looking at the conjugation, you probably noticed that the spelling of the root verb changes for all forms except for “we can.” Also, remember that yo<\/em>, t\u00fa<\/em>, and nosotros<\/em> are all implied, so you don’t really need to say the pronouns. For example, you can just say “Puedo<\/em>” to mean “I can.”<\/p>\n

For those of you studying Spanish to go to Spain, you may notice that I didn’t include vosotros<\/em> (you all, informal). I’ve been living and traveling in Latin America and people don’t use vosotros<\/em> here. If you’re curious, it would be vosotros pod\u00e9is<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If you’re a real go-getter and want to learn all the various conjugations of the power verb poder<\/em>, you can find them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Positive Statements<\/h2>\n
\"\"

Podemos cantar en espa\u00f1ol.<\/p><\/div>\n

Now that you’ve got the simple present conjugation down, here are some examples of positive statements using the verb poder<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Puedo hablar un poco de espa\u00f1ol.
\nI can speak a bit of Spanish.<\/h3>\n

Puedes hacerlo. \u00a1Creo en ti!
\nYou can do it. I believe in you!<\/h3>\n

Usted puede sentarse aqu\u00ed si quiere.
\nYou can sit here if you like.<\/h3>\n

\u00c9l puede correr muy r\u00e1pido.
\nHe can run very fast.<\/h3>\n

Ella puede ir a la fiesta esta sabado.
\nShe can go to the party this Saturday.<\/h3>\n

Podemos terminar el trabajo esta tarde.
\nWe can finish the work this afternoon.<\/h3>\n

Ustedes pueden tomar una taza de caf\u00e9.
\nYou can have a cup of coffee.<\/h3>\n

Ellos pueden jugar f\u00fatbol muy bien.
\nThey can play soccer very well.<\/h3>\n

Ellas pueden venir despu\u00e9s de la cita.
\nThey can come after the appointment.<\/h3>\n

Go ahead and see if you can make your own example for each pronoun using the verb poder<\/em>. Even if it’s short and simple, it’s good practice!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Negative Statements<\/h2>\n
\"\"

No podemos llegar a la cima.<\/p><\/div>\n

Making negative statements is simple – just add no<\/em> before the correct form of poder<\/em>. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n

No puedo ir a la oficina hoy.
\nI can’t come to the office today.<\/h3>\n

No puedes salir hasta que termines tu tarea.
\nYou can’t go out until you finish your homework.<\/h3>\n

Usted no puede estacionar su coche aqu\u00ed.
\nYou can’t park your car here.<\/h3>\n

\u00c9l no puede bailar salsa.
\nHe can’t dance salsa.<\/h3>\n

Ella no puede tomar vacaciones este mes.
\nShe can’t take a vacation this month.<\/h3>\n

No podemos comprar eso porque es demasiado caro.
\nWe can’t buy that because it’s too expensive.<\/h3>\n

Ustedes no pueden comer comida picante.
\nYou can’t eat spicy food.<\/h3>\n

Ellos no pueden viajar en este momento.
\nThey can’t travel at this time.<\/h3>\n

Ellas no pueden caminar all\u00ed porque est\u00e1 muy lejos.
\nThey can’t walk there because it’s too far.<\/h3>\n

Now it’s your turn! Go ahead and practice putting together negative statements with the verb poder<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Questions<\/h2>\n
\"\"

\u00bfPuedes cocinar la comida mexicana?<\/p><\/div>\n

As with the other power verbs we’ve learned so far, asking yes\/no questions is very simple with poder<\/em> – just add some question marks to positive statements and change the intonation of your voice. Here are some examples to review:<\/p>\n

\u00bfPuedo usar tu bol\u00edgrafo por un minuto?
\nCan I use your pen for a minute?<\/h3>\n

\u00bfPuedes cocinar la comida mexicana?
\nCan you cook Mexican food?<\/h3>\n

\u00bfUsted puede hablar m\u00e1s despacio por favor?
\nCan you please speak more slowly?<\/h3>\n

\u00bf\u00c9l puede tocar la guitarra?
\nCan he play the guitar?<\/h3>\n

\u00bfElla puede hacer una cita para ma\u00f1ana en la tarde?
\nCan she make an appointment tomorrow afternoon?<\/h3>\n

\u00bfPodemos traer a nuestro amigo a la fiesta?
\nCan we bring our friend to the party?<\/h3>\n

\u00bfUstedes pueden entender esta canci\u00f3n en espa\u00f1ol?
\nCan you understand this song in Spanish?<\/h3>\n

\u00bfEllos pueden ver el partido este fin de semana?
\nCan they watch the game this weekend?<\/h3>\n

\u00bfEllas pueden tener la clase de ingles ma\u00f1ana?
\nCan they have English class tomorrow?<\/h3>\n

See how easy that is? As far as answering yes\/no questions goes, you can just answer “S\u00ed<\/em>” or “No<\/em>.”\u00a0 You might as well practice answering in complete sentences, though. Take the question “\u00bfPuedes cocinar la comida mexicana<\/em>?” for example. You could answer like this:<\/p>\n

S\u00ed, puedo cocinar la comida mexicana.
\nYes, I can cook Mexican food.<\/h3>\n

No, no puedo cocinar la comida mexicana.
\nNo, I can’t cook Mexican food.<\/h3>\n

Of course, we don’t always ask yes\/no questions. Here are a few other examples of questions using the power verb poder<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u00bfQu\u00e9 idiomas puedes hablar?
\nWhat languages can you speak?<\/h3>\n

\u00bfCu\u00e1ndo pueden venir a la escuela?
\nWhen can they come to the school?<\/h3>\n

\u00bfD\u00f3nde podemos ir despu\u00e9s del trabajo esta noche?
\nWhere can we go after work tonight?<\/h3>\n

\u00bfQui\u00e9n puede ayudarme?
\nWho can help me?<\/h3>\n

\u00bfPor qu\u00e9 no podemos tener un perro, mam\u00e1?
\nWhy can’t we have a dog, mom?<\/h3>\n

Alright, here’s your last Spanish exercise for this post! See if you can put together a few yes\/no questions and a couple others using question words in Spanish<\/a>. While you’re at it, make sure you’re signed up to learn a new Spanish word every day<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

If you’re a beginner with learning Spanish, a good strategy is to master some power verbs. These are verbs that are used very frequently in daily life, such as necesitar (to need), querer (to want), and gustar (to like). Today we’re going to look at another Spanish power verb – poder (can\/be able to). Conjugation…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":12584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6,13],"tags":[472580,472579,472659,509978,509977,509976],"class_list":["post-12579","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","category-vocabulary","tag-beginner-spanish","tag-easy-spanish","tag-spanish-power-verbs","tag-spanish-verb-be-able-to","tag-spanish-verb-for-can","tag-spanish-verb-poder"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12579"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12586,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12579\/revisions\/12586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}