Poder Conjugation 101: Conjugate Poder in Spanish

In Spanish, poder is one of the most important and common irregular verbs you’ll use on a daily basis. Additionally, this verb can also help you practice O to UE stem changes. So, in this guide, we’ll review the poder conjugation charts. Here is a summary of what we’ll cover: 

• Poder Overview
• Indicative Tenses of Poder Conjugations
  • Present tense
  • Preterite tense
  • Imperfect tense
  • Near Future tense
  • Future tense
  • Conditional tense
  • Present Perfect tense
  • Past Perfect tense
  • Future Perfect tense
  • Conditional Perfect tense
  • Progressive tenses
• Subjunctive Tenses of Poder Conjugations 
  • Present Subjunctive tense
  • Present Perfect Subjunctive tense
  • Imperfect Subjunctive tense
  • Past Perfect Subjunctive tense
• Imperative (Commands) of Poder Conjugations
• Uses & Examples
• Download Poder Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets
• Poder Conjugation Practice Quiz

Overview of Poder

Depending on the sentence, poder can be translated as ‘to be able to’ or ‘can’. You can learn more about how to use this verb in the Uses & Meanings section. 

Indicative Conjugations of Poder

Present tense

The conjugations of poder in the present tense have an O to UE stem change for all pronouns except ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’. You can check this in the conjugation chart below. We use poder present conjugations to express what people can and cannot do. 

For example: Ella puede ayudarte. 

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Puedo	I’m able to
Tú	Puedes	You’re able to
Él / Ella Usted	Puede	He/She is able to You (formal) are able to
Nosotros	Podemos	We’re able to
Vosotros	Podéis	You’re able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Pueden	They are able to You (plural) are able to

Preterite tense

Poder preterite conjugations are formed with the irregular stem pud. Notice that the forms ‘yo’, ‘él’, ‘ella’, and ‘usted’ omit the accent mark in the preterite endings. You can see these changes in the conjugation chart below. 

Use the preterite tense to conjugate poder to express that a person was or wasn’t able to do something. For example: ¿Pudiste hablar con Lara?

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Pude	I was able to
Tú	Pudiste	You were able to
Él / Ella Usted	Pudo	He/She was able to You (plural) were able to
Nosotros	Pudimos	We were able to
Vosotros	Pudisteis	You were able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Pudieron	They were able to You (formal) were able to

Imperfect tense

In the imperfect indicative tense, poder is a regular verb. Use poder imperfect conjugations to talk about the things people were or weren’t able to do for an extended time in the past. You can also use these forms when it’s unclear when someone was able to do something. 

For instance: Yo nunca podía jugar con mi hermano.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Podía	I was able to I used to be able to
Tú	Podías	You were able to You used to be able to
Él / Ella Usted	Podía	He/She was able to He/She used to be able to You (formal) were able to You (formal) used to be able to
Nosotros	Podíamos	We were able to We used to be able to
Vosotros	Podíais	You were able to You used to be able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Podían	They were able to They used to be able to You (plural) were able to You (plural) used to be able to

Near future

The Spanish immediate or near future is formed with ir (present tense) + a + poder. These conjugations allow you to express that a person is going to be able to do something very soon in the future. For instance: ¿Vas a poder ir mañana?

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Voy a poder	I’m going to be able to
Tú	Vas a poder	You’re going to be able to
Él / Ella Usted	Va a poder	He/She is going to be able to You (formal) are going to be able to
Nosotros	Vamos a poder	We’re going to be able to
Vosotros	Vais a poder	You’re going to be able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Van a poder	They’re going to be able to You (plural) are going to be able to

Future simple tense

Poder future tense conjugations are irregular. To form this tense, you must use the stem podr. Conjugate poder to the future simple to talk about the activities people will be able to do at some moment in the future. Podremos ayudarla en unas semanas. 

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Podré	I will be able to
Tú	Podrás	You will be able to
Él / Ella Usted	Podrá	He/She will be able to You (formal) will be able to
Nosotros	Podremos	We will be able to
Vosotros	Podréis	You (formal) will be able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Podrán	They will be able to You (plural) will be able to

Conditional tense

To conjugate poder to the conditional tense, you must use the irregular stem podr. The conditional conjugations of ‘poder’ allow you to talk about the things people would be able to do. You can also use these forms to ask things politely in Spanish. 

For example: ¿Podrías decirme dónde están los baños?

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Podría	I would be able to
Tú	Podrías	You would be able to
Él / Ella Usted	Podría	He/She would be able to You (formal) would be able to
Nosotros	Podríamos	We would be able to
Vosotros	Podríais	You would be able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Podrían	They would be able to You (plural) would be able to

Present perfect tense

Haber in the present tense + podido (past participle) is the structure you need to follow to form the Spanish present perfect. You can use these conjugations to refer to the activities people have or haven’t been able to do. For instance: No hemos podido arreglar la computadora. 

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	He podido	I have been able to
Tú	Has podido	You have been able to
Él / Ella Usted	Ha podido	He/She has been able to You (formal) have been able to
Nosotros	Hemos podido	We have been able to
Vosotros	Habéis podido	You have been able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Han podido	They have been able to You (plural) have been able to

Past perfect

The Spanish past perfect indicative tense is formed with haber (imperfect form) + past participle form of ‘poder’. With this tense, poder communicates that someone had been able to do something before another past action. Pensé que ya habías podido abrir la puerta. 

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Había podido	I had been able to
Tú	Habías podido	You had been able to
Él / Ella Usted	Había podido	He/She had been able to You (formal) had been able to
Nosotros	Habíamos podido	We had been able to
Vosotros	Habíais podido	You had been able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Habían podido	They had been able to You (plural) had been able to

Future perfect

The future perfect tense of poder is used to talk about the activities someone will be able to do by or before a certain moment in the future. These forms are also used to refer to the things people might have been able to do. No sé si Juan ya habrá podido hablar con Lucy. 

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Habré podido	I will have been able to
Tú	Habrás podido	You will have been able to
Él / Ella Usted	Habrá podido	He/She will have been able to You (formal) will have been able to
Nosotros	Habremos podido	We will have been able to
Vosotros	Habréis podido	You will have been able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Habrán podido	They will have been able to You (plural) will have been able to

Conditional perfect

When conjugated to the Spanish conditional perfect tense, poder refers to the things people would have been able to do if a past circumstance had been met. These poder conjugations also allow you to hypothesize about what someone was able to do. 

For example: No habría podido hacer esto sin ti.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Habría podido	I would have been able to
Tú	Habrías podido	You would have been able to
Él / Ella Usted	Habría podido	He/She would have been able to You (formal) would have been able to
Nosotros	Habríamos podido	We would have been able to
Vosotros	Habríais podido	You would have been able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Habrían podido	They would have been able to You (plural) would have been able to

Progressive tenses

The Spanish progressive tenses are formed with estar conjugated + pudiendo (present participle). Use progressive tenses to express that someone is being able to do something at the moment of speaking. For example: Sara está pudiendo arreglar la tele.

Progressive Tense	Formula	Translation Example
Present	Estar (present) + pudiendo	I am being able to
Preterite	Estar (preterite) + pudiendo	You were being able to
Imperfect	Estar (imperfect) + pudiendo	He was being able to
Future	Estar (future) + pudiendo	We will be able to
Conditional	Estar (conditional) + pudiendo	They would be able to

Poder Subjunctive Conjugations

The subjunctive mood in Spanish is used to talk about wishes, requests, suggestions, expectations, doubts, or hypothetical situations. In the sections below, you’ll find poder conjugation charts for the most common subjunctive tenses. 

Present subjunctive

Poder subjunctive conjugations have an O to UE stem change. However, this spelling change is not applied to ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’. Conjugate poder to the Spanish present subjunctive to express uncertainty, to wish or request someone to be able to do something. 

Here is a sentence example: La verdad, no creo que pueda ir.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Pueda	I’m able to
Tú	Puedas	You’re able to
Él / Ella Usted	Pueda	He/She is able to You (formal) are able to
Nosotros	Podamos	We’re able to
Vosotros	Podáis	You’re able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Puedan	They are able to You (plural) are able to

Present perfect subjunctive

The Spanish present perfect subjunctive is formed with the structure haber (present subjunctive form) + past participle (podido, in this case). Use these subjunctive conjugations to wonder or wish that a person has already been able to do something. 

For example: Ojalá hayas podido hablar con Sonia.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Haya podido	I have been able to
Tú	Hayas podido	You have been able to
Él / Ella Usted	Haya podido	He/She has been able to You (formal) have been able to
Nosotros	Hayamos podido	We have been able to
Vosotros	Hayáis podido	You have been able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Hayan podido	They have been able to You (plural) have been able to

Imperfect subjunctive

In the Spanish imperfect subjunctive tense, poder is an irregular verb. Use the stem pudier or pudies to form this tense. We use imperfect subjunctive conjugations to convey past suggestions, requests, or wishes someone had about a person being able to do something.

For example: Esperaba que pudieras ayudarme. 

The imperfect subjunctive uses two conjugation models depending on the type of Spanish you use:

Latin American Spanish version

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Pudiera	I was able to
Tú	Pudieras	You were able to
Él / Ella Usted	Pudiera	He/She was able to You (formal) were able to
Nosotros	Pudiéramos	We were able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Pudieran	They were able to You (plural) were able to

Note: Since vosotros is not used in Latin American Spanish, the poder conjugation for this pronoun has been omitted in the chart above. 

Castilian Spanish version

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Pudiese	I was able to
Tú	Pudieses	You were able to
Él / Ella Usted	Pudiese	He/She was able to You (formal) were able to
Nosotros	Pudiésemos	We were able to
Vosotros	Pudieseis	You were able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Pudiesen	They were able to You (plural) were able to

Past perfect subjunctive

In the past perfect subjunctive, poder communicates that someone would have been able to do something as long as a past circumstance was met. These subjunctive conjugations can also express regret for something you had or hadn’t been able to do. 

For example: Si hubiera podido, te hubiera acompañado.

Person	Conjugation	Translation
Yo	Hubiera podido	I had been able to
Tú	Hubieras podido	You had been able to
Él / Ella Usted	Hubiera podido	He/She had been able to You (formal) had been able to
Nosotros	Hubiéramos podido	We had been able to
Vosotros	Hubierais podido	You had been able to
Ellos / Ellas Ustedes	Hubieran podido	They had been able to You (plural) had been able to

Poder Imperative Conjugations

In Spanish, we use the imperative conjugations to command people to do or not do something. Since we cannot order people to be able to do something, poder does not have imperative conjugations.

Meanings of Poder & Examples

Now that you know how to conjugate poder in Spanish, here are some formulas and examples of how to use this verb correctly. Notice that poder is the direct translation of ‘to be able to’ or ‘can’. 

1. Expressing what someone is able to do

[Poder conjugated] + [infinitive verb]

No pude abrir el archivo. 
I couldn’t open the file.

Si nos hubieras dicho, hubiéramos podido ir contigo.
If you had told us, we could have gone with you.

Si nos hubieras dicho, hubiéramos podido ir contigo.
If you had told us, we would have been able to go with you.

Take Note: Examples #2 and 3 above are exactly the same in Spanish, but can be written differently in English. This depends on whether you use the translation ‘to be able to’ or the modal verb ‘can’. Notice that using one verb or the other would also affect how the second verb is translated (go vs gone). 

2. Asking things politely 

[Conditional forms of poder] + [infinitive verb]

Señorita, ¿podría traerme un vaso de agua?
Miss, could you bring me a glass of water?

Disculpe, ¿podrían decirme dónde está el museo?
Excuse me, could you guys tell me where the museum is? 

Take Note: Since it refers to capabilities or abilities, poder must always work with an infinitive verb. Without the information provided by this second verb, poder couldn’t stand alone in a sentence unless such information was implicit.

Download Poder Conjugation Charts & Uses Cheat sheets

Practice Quiz: Poder Conjugation