"John couldn't/can't be here tonight"

Question

In English you could say either one of these. Is it the same in Spanish, or do you have to use the present tense (i.e. can't or cannot)?

Answer 1

Can and could are rarely interchangeable in Spanish as they are in English. He can is always translated as puede (in the present) and he could as pudo/podía (in the past or imperfect) or podría (in the conditional). Also, we don't say I can't or couldn't be here to mean I wasn't able to attend. We use the verb to come instead of to be.

Juan no pudo venir esta noche (he couldn't and he won't be coming tonight,,,no excuses being made)

Juan no puede venir esta noche (he is not able to come tonight, meaning he wished he could)

I hope this helps!

Thanks Franco - now I know what the difference is :) - ian-hill, May 3, 2013

Answer 2

no pudo/no puede

Answer 3

John no puede estar aquí esta noche.

John no pudo estar aquí esta noche.

The big trick here is to know what the difference is.