No es información nueva, y ellas lo saben. The Spanish verb saber typically means "to know" (in the sense of facts or information) in the present, imperfect, etc.: While we might alternatively translate "si usted no pudo controlar su matrimonio" as "you couldn't control your marriage" or "you weren't able to control your marriage," the important thing to remember is that the verb poder in the preterite means that something in the past was attempted but did not come to fruition. If you failed to control your marriage, how are you going to control and direct and manage public interest?Ĭaptions 58-59, Muñeca Brava 43 La reunión - Part 3 Play Caption Si usted no pudo controlar su matrimonio ¿cómo va a controlar y dirigir y manejar el interés público? So, what about the preterite? If we know that the preterite form of the Spanish verb poder means "to manage to" do something, it follows that the preterite form of no poder can mean "to not manage to," or, better yet, "to fail to" to do something. What do you mean you can't do anything? What do you mean you can't do anything else?Ĭaption 17, Yago 3 La foto - Part 2 Play CaptionĬaption 1, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 5 - Part 3 Play Caption ❼ómo que no pueden hacer nada? ❼ómo que no pueden hacer nada más? The meaning of no poder in both the present and imperfect tenses in Spanish is pretty straightforward: "to not be able to," in other words, "can't" in the present and "couldn't" in the (imperfect) past: "To manage" (to do something) is thus a common translation for the Spanish verb poder in the preterite tense that makes this distinction clear. Hence, the important thing to remember when the Spanish verb poder is conjugated in the Spanish preterite tense is that it ceases to describe merely the potential for something to happen and states that it actually did. It's just that I don't understand how he managed to get in here.Ĭaption 20, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 2 - Part 8 Play CaptionĪlthough " It's just that I don't understand how he was able to get in here" could also be a viable translation, in some contexts, this English rendition would not make it clear whether someone actually did something or merely had the ability to do so. So, how does the meaning of the Spanish verb poder transform in the preterite?Įs que no entiendo cómo pudo entrar aquí. Let's see some examples:ĭetrás de mí podemos observar la ciudad antiguaĬaption 11, Ciudad de Panamá Denisse introduce la ciudad Play CaptionĬaption 14, Guillermina y Candelario Una Amiga muy Presumida - Part 2 Play Caption The Spanish verb podermeans "to be able," in the sense of "can" in the present or "could" in the past.
you are going to be the mom of my daughters.Ĭaptions 52-54, La Sub30 Familias - Part 4 Play CaptionĪs you can see in this example, as the preterite tense in Spanish limits an action to a specific moment in time, the meaning of the Spanish verb conocer changes to "to meet" in the Spanish preterite tense. When I met my wife, nine years ago, the first thing I said to her, you. Let's take a look:Ĭuando yo conocí a mi esposa, hace nueve años, la primera cosa yo le dije a ella, te. In both the Spanish present indicative and the imperfect tense, the Spanish verb conocer means "to know" in the sense of "being familiar with." However, in the preterite tense, the Spanish verb conocer has a different meaning. Pablo Escobar knew La Cathedral like the back of his handĬaption 42, Los Tiempos de Pablo Escobar Capítulo 2 - Part 6 Play Caption Pablo Escobar conocía La Catedral como la palma de la mano, Porque conozco un sitio muy bueno y podemos ir.īecause I know a very good place and we can go.Ĭaption 67, Cleer Entrevista a Giluancar Play Caption Let's take a look at some examples of the Spanish verb conocer in the present and imperfect tenses:
Spanish Verbs That Change Meaning in the Preterite Tense As we mentioned, as the meaning of some Spanish verbs actually changes in the preterite tense in Spanish, let's take a look at some examples of several of these verbs and their translations in the present, the imperfect, and, finally, the preterite, via examples from Yabla Spanish's video library. In a nutshell, there are two "main" past tenses in Spanish: the imperfect tense in Spanish, which is used to describe past actions that were ongoing, in progress, or interrupted, and the Spanish preterite tense, which describes completed past actions. Just when you thought you'd memorized the meanings of a bunch of infinitive verbs (their "to" forms, like saber (to know), poder (to be able), etc.), you find out that there are some verbs that actually change meanings from one tense to another! Verbs that mean one thing in tenses like the Spanish present indicative tense and the imperfect tense in Spanish but change meaning in the Spanish preterite tense will be the focus of today's lesson.
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