How to use poder

Question

I'm not entirely sure how to use this verb, mainly because when I try to translate it from Spanish to English it confuses me.

So pretty much, I just need to know the rules to use when using it, I know it is an irregular verb.

Do you use (for 'can I' as a question) 'puedo + infinitive verb' (eg 'puedo comprar') or a conjugated form of the verb ('puedo compro')?

Any other tips or ways to use it would also be helpful, I love the language and always love to learn new phrases I can use to impress my teachers.

Thanks,

Ryan

Answer 1

Welcome aboard, Ryan! This is a good question. When you use a form of "poder", such as "yo puedo" remember to follow it with an infinitive. It might be helpful to think of "puedo" as meaning "I am able"... just as we use an infinitive in English after "I am able", we use one in Spanish. Thus: "puedo nadar", "puedes ir", "puede escribir", etc. Your teacher will be impressed!

And - yes - you can use this same structure in a question. "May I go?" is "¿Puedo ir?

Thanks for that, it's confuzed me for a while now, then I thought, hey, I'll post something on SpanishDict. I'm impressed at the response time here, it takes longer for people to respond to my comments on Facebook! - Ryan, Nov 24, 2009

Recuerdo cuando estaba en la ecuela, que dolor de cabeza me daban aprender todas las formas de los "verbos" jejeje como podría yo ayudarte, si ni yo "pude" aprenderme todas las conjugaciones jajaja - EdiOswaldo, Nov 24, 2009