poder

Question

Hola:

Sé que 'poder' traduce como 'to be able', pero siempre tengo problemas entendiendo 'pudiendo' y 'podido'.

Por favor, me dice qué es la traducción por estas palabras.

Gracias,
Martyn.

Answer 1

I liked the quote that James-Santia provided. But I'm still trying to imagine how "pudiendo" might be used with "estar".

So would the following be a correct usage?

-Being able to multiply in my head, I can calculate the tip.

-Estoy pudiendo multiplicar mentalmente, puedo calcular la propina.

Or how about this one?

-You should help him. No, he is managing.

-Debe ayudarlo. No, está pudiendo.

(Dear lazarus1907 - You can't use something until you understand how to use it. Like a stick shift. You have to see (or hear/read) how it's done in order to understand it. OK, you could fiddle around with it until you've eventually figured it out, if you haven't managed to rear end someone first, hopefully...)

Answer 2

Learn them by using them, not memorizing their English counterparts, or it will take you forever to learn.

Past participle (-do ending):

(I thought she was coming, but she hasn't come yet)
Creí que ella iba a venir, pero no ha venido aún.

Creí que me iba a gustar la película, pero no me ha ..............
Creí que tenía íbamos a comer pronot, pero no hemos ............. aún.
Creí que lo iban a encontrar muy rápidamente, pero no lo han ..............aún.
Creí que él iba a poder hacerlo, pero no ha ................

Just fill the gaps, or try to make other similar sentences. Pay attention to the last answer!

Answer 3

Martyn said:

I get present and past participles with practically every other verb, I just couldn't think for the life of me how 'pudiendo' and 'podido' translate.

This time you have to blame your own language, hehe.

Answer 4

It it the same as any other verb, Martyn:

with -ndo = -ing

comiendo = eating
bebiendo = drinking
pudiendo = being able

with -do = -en

comido = eaten
bebido = drinken (the correct irrgular form is "drunk")
podido = been able

There is nothing special about poder's forms. The problem is not the verb 'poder', but the auxiliary 'can' in English, which sometimes must be replaced by 'to be able", i.e. you don't say "canning" or "canned" to mean "being able" or "been able", because "can" lacks those forms, but in Spanish "poder" is normally conjugated in all tenses. In English you say "I can" for present tense, but using future tense you don't say "I will can", but "I will be able"; in Spanish you say "puedo" for present, and "podré" for future, so in this sense, it works exactly like any other verb. The fact that in English this verb does not behave like the rest is probably why you are confused.

Answer 5

No, I was familiar with those uses. I was just saying that it isn't likely that Martyn will using pudiendo like that.

Answer 6

"Pudiendo" can be used more than you think. Some examples:

No sé por qué vives en esa casa, pudiendo comprarte otra mejor.
No pudiendo resistir más la curiosidad, entré a ver qué pasaba.
Las balas pueden llegar a ser muy peligrosas, pudiendo llegar a atravesar hasta una pare.

Answer 7

Natasha said:

podido, right? Or is our verb conjugator lying again?

You're right. My brain was stuck on the U in pudiendo. Thanks for pointing it out.

Answer 8

podido, right? Or is our verb conjugator lying again'

Answer 9

However, I did think of "being able to post messages on this site improves my Spanish"...

Ah, but that would NOT be pudiendo, mi amigo. It would be poder.

Answer 10

James Santiago said:

Martyn, realistically, you aren't going to use "pudiendo" very often. "Pudido," on the other hand, is very useful in expressions involving "would have been able to..."

I was thinking the same thing about 'pudiendo', because it's tricky to work into an English sentence.

However, I did think of "being able to post messages on this site improves my Spanish"...

Thanks for all the replies.

Answer 11

Martyn, realistically, you aren't going to use "pudiendo" very often. "Pudido," on the other hand, is very useful in expressions involving "would have been able to..."

Si huibiera tenido el dinero, habría pudido ir con ustedes.
If I'd had the money, I would have been able to go (I could have gone) with you guys.

Anonymous quotation: Quien perdona pudiendo vengarse, poco le falta para salvarse.
Literally: Whoever forgives while being able to get vengeance lacks little to being saved.
More naturally: Forgiving someone while forgoing vengeance is the path to salvation.

Answer 12

lazarus1907 said:

Learn them by using them, not memorizing their English counterparts, or it will take you forever to learn. Past participle (-do ending):

Thank you I'll try them later.

Learning by memorising isn't something I do all the time with everything, but I don't want to say 'querí', when I should have said 'quise', so they're the verbs I'm working on.

Me voy ver mi profesor nuevo ahora - tres horas de conversaciónes. Ellas necesito!

Answer 13

Sort of!

I have trouble remembering the verbs that have very different preterite stems, like poder & querer. I was just thinking to myself what the English was, as I wrote them down.

How would you suggest I learn them - I'm keen to know, as it's a weak spot for me.

Answer 14

Surely you are not checking the translating for all forms for all verbs, and then memorizing them by heart, are you'

Answer 15

I didn't have any particular situation in mind, it's just that I'm trying to revise some irregular verbs and as I wrote down the conjugations for 'poder', I realised that I couldn't translate the participles.