Identical conjugations in Poder and Podar?
I was looking up conjugation for "podéis translating" ¿no podéis venir? ¡qué pena!
And got this, which confused me at first: "podéis" is the second person plural present subjunctive of the verb podar.
Of course it must be the second person plural present of the verb poder, obviously.
The next thing that rose QUESTIONS??
The spelling podáis and podéis exists in conjugations both for PODER and PODAR, and its not the only place spellings are identical.
How can one understand how to use PODER and PODAR.?
5 Answers
he he, ya its a little funny. Could you give a context example using podar.?
I've actually never heard anyone use podar in any of its various forms. Poder, on the other hand, is very common. To be honest, I cannot think of any context where cutting off a branch or tail could possibly be confused with being able.
Considering that the preterites of ser & ir, two of the most commonly used Spanish verbs, are the same in all persons, distinguishing between poder & podar should be easy.
Which word is being used is generally clear from context. You will also note that podamos occurs twice in the list of conjugations for podar--which one is meant is also generally clear from context. You will also find that many words have more than one meaning--context comes into play here as well.
Are you for real???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
It is the same as asking how can one understand SAW
I saw it.
To see
To saw.
Context is everything.
The night was dark.
The knight was dark.
I read everyday (past or present).
As Lorenzo said, it´s all about context.
