Podría haber sido or Podría he sido = I could have been?
| Pronoun | English Verb | Spanish Verb |
| I / yo | ..I could have been.. | ..podría haber sido.. |
| you / tú | ..you could have been .. | ..podrías haber sido.. |
| you-he-she/ Usted-él-ella | ..you-he-she could have been .. | ..podría haber sido.. |
| we / nosotros,-as | ..we could have been.. | ..podriamos haber sido.. |
| you / vosotros, -as | ..you (all) could have been .. | ..podríais haber sido.. |
| they / Uds./ellos/ellas | ..they could have been.. | ..podrían haber sido.. |
Lazarus said: "could" is "poder" in conditional tense in Spanish, and "have been" is present perfect of "ser". Simply write them exactly like in English.
ianhill said: Or is it the only way that "could" can be expressed in Spanish?
I'm confused. My question is about "poder." Does it mean both would and could, or only could in the conditional tense? Is poder the only way "could" can be expressed in Spanish?
6 Answers
Poder means 'to be able'.
It doesn't mean 'would' or 'could'. The sense of 'would' is conveyed by conjugation to the conditional tense.
But having said that, the English modal 'could' is really an expression of 'being able to' which makes Poder the perfect fit.
The Spanish conditional tense aligns perfectly with English 'would'. There is no Spanish tense that matches 'could' via conjugating a primary verb alone.
I'm confused. My question is about "poder." Does it mean both would and could, or only could in the conditional tense? Is poder the only way "could" can be expressed in Spanish?
I think Pesta explained it quite well, but the true picture is more complex, because the conditional tense in Spanish has a very specific use, and the semi-auxiliary "poder" has two main ones, but "would" and "could" have other uses, so you can't expect that a word like "would" has an exact counterpart with exactly the same uses. For example, "would" is used exactly like Spanish for mental projections, but it is also used when things or people are not willing to do things, like in "He wouldn't do it", which the Spanish conditional tense can't express, or "Would you rather stay?", which Spanish expresses with "preferir".
"Could" is generally translated with "poder", but depending on the way "could" is used, you need to change the tense of "poder" to match it. Conversely, "poder" cannot always be translated as "could"; sometimes you need "be able to", a phrase that has the same meaning as "could".
I spoke to a Columbian friend of mine yesterday in Skype.
I understand that the sound of the U does not change when replaced with an O in "Columbian" and "Colombian", but they mean different things. "Columbian" means related to the USA, Christopher Columbus or Columbia (South Carolina). "Colombian" means from Colombia, in South America.
There is no Spanish tense that matches 'could' via conjugating a primary verb alone.
When the conditional is used to describe probabilities of past events in Spanish, it often translates to "could" in English in exactly this way. That is, a single verb conjugated in the conditional tense corresponds to a phrase with the word "could" rather than "would".
I spoke to a Colombian friend of mine yesterday in Skype. I am helping her with her English. I asked her about the phrase ''could have been'' She confirmed Jack's correct answer She said it is: * ''podría haber sido'' ** not podría ha sido
Podría is undoubtably the conditional form of poder. It is from the verb poder to be able Puedo = I can, puedes = you can (familiar form) etc...
Could is expressed using the verb poder eg ''Could you bring me a glass of water , please?'' The polite form uses the conditional tense eg;
= ''¿Podría(s) traerme un vaso de agua, por favor?''
Would is expressed using the conditional form of a verb
eg I would go to Peru if I had enough money = Iría a Peru si tuviera suficiente dinero
Should is expressed using the verb deber
I hope this helps 
Podría haber sido un contendiente. Podría haber sido alguien
"I could have been a contender. I could have been somebody." (From the movie "On the Waterfront" with Marlon Brando).
In English it doesn't exist " would can" in the sense of could. (to be able)
