Pronouns before poder?

Question

I learned about reflexive verbs today and I understand that the form of the person receiving the action has to match the proper conjugation, for example:

Yo Me Levanto or Me Levanto

However when I was watching my novela today I head people say "te puedo" or "me puede". What does it translate to in English? I thought the verb poder had to match the subject "te" or "me". Shouldn't it be "te pudes" or "me puedo"?

Answer 1

It'd help to know what came after the form of "poder" in those sentences.

For example

¿Te puedo ayudar?

means "Can I help you?"

Probably the "te puedo" and "me puede" were either direct object pronouns or indirect object pronouns, but we can't tell which without the context.

Answer 2

I stand correcting but I don't think poder is reflexive so you wouldn't need a pronoun preceding it e.g. ¿puedo decir algo? Sí puedes. Can I say something? yes you can.

But "¿Te puedo decir algo?" / "¿Puedo decirte algo?" = "Can I tell you something?" - samdie, Jan 22, 2010

Answer 3

I can't remember the context, however that does sound right. Te puedo ayudar. Yes that clears it up. No poder is not reflexive but I got tripped up because I was thinking it was. Thanks again to you both!