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In Spanish, the modal verb poder can be used in El Pretérito Perfecto or El Pretérito Indefinido when someone could/couldn't/was/was not able to do something in the past.
We will use:
OR
Both tenses refer to a past action of poder. Have a look at some examples:
The tense to use depends on how we see the time frame in which the action happens.
As a general rule, to use El Pretérito Perfecto:
- we are not referring to a specific moment in the past and the time when it happened is not relevant
or - it refers to actions in the past where the speaker sees him/herself inside that same time frame.
For example:
- In the first example above, the specific time when it happens is not relevant and is not mentioned.
- In the second example the time phrase "esta mañana" is used and the speaker sees himself inside that time phrase, therefore El Pretérito Perfecto is used.
As a general rule, to use El Pretérito Indefinido:
- we are referring to a specific moment in the past and the time when it happened is relevant
or - it refers to actions in the past where the speaker sees him/herself outside that time frame.
For example:
Remember though that the presence of a time frame is not always necessary with these tenses.
Take this example:
There is no specific time frame here but the speaker uses El Pretérito Indefinido because the time frame is obvious to him/her as it has been mentioned before, so there is no need to repeat it.
Notice how in all the examples poder is followed by Infinitivo.
See also Using poder in the preterite vs the imperfect in Spanish (could in past actions) to learn about other ways to express "could" in past actions.
And Using poder to say could [do something] for polite requests and suggestions in Spanish (El Condicional Simple) to learn about how to say "could" in polite requests.
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