Poder Conjugation in Spanish
poder means “can” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 6 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for ability and permission, for possibility, and for polite requests. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of poder — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo puedo venir a la fiesta todos los días.” — “I can come to the party every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: poder
- English: to can
- Verb type: Irregular — stem-changing (o → ue)
- Irregular in: present, preterite, future, conditional, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: podiendo
- Past participle: podido
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for poder. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | puedo |
| tú | puedes |
| él/ella/Ud. | puede |
| nosotros/as | podemos |
| vosotros/as | podéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | pueden |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | pude |
| tú | pudiste |
| él/ella/Ud. | pudo |
| nosotros/as | pudimos |
| vosotros/as | pudisteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | pudieron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | podía |
| tú | podías |
| él/ella/Ud. | podía |
| nosotros/as | podíamos |
| vosotros/as | podíais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | podían |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | podré |
| tú | podrás |
| él/ella/Ud. | podrá |
| nosotros/as | podremos |
| vosotros/as | podréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | podrán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | podría |
| tú | podrías |
| él/ella/Ud. | podría |
| nosotros/as | podríamos |
| vosotros/as | podríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | podrían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he podido |
| tú | has podido |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha podido |
| nosotros/as | hemos podido |
| vosotros/as | habéis podido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han podido |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había podido |
| tú | habías podido |
| él/ella/Ud. | había podido |
| nosotros/as | habíamos podido |
| vosotros/as | habíais podido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían podido |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré podido |
| tú | habrás podido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá podido |
| nosotros/as | habremos podido |
| vosotros/as | habréis podido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán podido |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría podido |
| tú | habrías podido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría podido |
| nosotros/as | habríamos podido |
| vosotros/as | habríais podido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían podido |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | pueda |
| tú | puedas |
| él/ella/Ud. | pueda |
| nosotros/as | podamos |
| vosotros/as | podáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | puedan |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | pudiera |
| tú | pudieras |
| él/ella/Ud. | pudiera |
| nosotros/as | pudiéramos |
| vosotros/as | pudierais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | pudieran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | puede |
| él/ella/Ud. | pueda |
| nosotros/as | podamos |
| vosotros/as | poded |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | puedan |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | puedas |
| él/ella/Ud. | pueda |
| nosotros/as | podamos |
| vosotros/as | podáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | puedan |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | podiendo |
| Past participle | podido |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With poder this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo puedo venir a la fiesta todos los días.” — “I can come to the party every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. With poder this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tú pudiste ayudar con el trabajo ayer.” — “You could help with the work yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él podía hablar español antes.” — “He could speak Spanish before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. With poder this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo podré venir a la fiesta mañana.” — “I will be able to come to the party tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. With poder this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tú podrías ayudar con el trabajo algún día.” — “You would be able to help with the work someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha podido hablar español esta semana.” — “He has been able to speak Spanish this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había podido venir a la fiesta antes de la fiesta.” — “I had been able to come to the party before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás podido ayudar con el trabajo para mañana.” — “You will have been able to help with the work by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría podido hablar español ayer.” — “He would have been able to speak Spanish yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With poder this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Es importante que yo pueda venir a la fiesta.” — “It is important that i can come to the party.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. With poder this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ojalá tú pudieras ayudar con el trabajo.” — “I wish you could help with the work.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With poder this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “¡Puede hablar español!” — “You can speak Spanish!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With poder this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “No puedas venir a la fiesta.” — “You cannot come to the party.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with poder, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo puedo venir a la fiesta todos los días.” — “I can come to the party every day.”
- “Tú pudiste ayudar con el trabajo ayer.” — “You could help with the work yesterday.”
- “Él podía hablar español antes.” — “He could speak Spanish before.”
- “Yo podré ayudar con el trabajo mañana.” — “I will be able to help with the work tomorrow.”
- “Tú podrías venir a la fiesta algún día.” — “You would be able to come to the party someday.”
- “Él ha podido hablar español esta semana.” — “He has been able to speak Spanish this week.”
- “Yo había podido venir a la fiesta antes de la fiesta.” — “I had been able to come to the party before the party.”
- “Tú habrás podido ayudar con el trabajo para mañana.” — “You will have been able to help with the work by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él pueda hablar español.” — “It is important that he can speak Spanish.”
- “¡Puede venir a la fiesta!” — “You can come to the party!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo poder venir a la fiesta.”
✓ Right: “Yo puedo venir a la fiesta.”
The infinitive poder never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form puedo.
2. Confusing poder with saber
✗ Wrong: “Yo sé venir a la fiesta.”
✓ Right: “Yo puedo venir a la fiesta.”
Poder is can or to be able to; saber is to know a fact or how to do something.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy podido venir a la fiesta.”
✓ Right: “Yo he podido venir a la fiesta.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle podido.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “podre”
✓ Right: “podré”
The accent on podré is part of the spelling in the future. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Forgetting the o → ue stem change
✗ Wrong: “Yo podo venir a la fiesta.”
✓ Right: “Yo puedo venir a la fiesta.”
poder changes its stem vowel in the present tense (o → ue), so the yo form is puedo, not the unchanged stem.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo pude venir a la fiesta antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo podía venir a la fiesta antes.”
The preterite pude describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect podía.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on poder. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of poder in the Present indicative?
- A) puedes
- B) puede
- C) podemos
- D) puedo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of poder in the Preterite?
- A) pudiste
- B) pudimos
- C) pudo
- D) pude
What is the nosotros/as form of poder in the Imperfect?
- A) podíais
- B) podíamos
- C) podía
- D) podías
What is the tú form of poder in the Future?
- A) podrás
- B) podré
- C) podrá
- D) podremos
What is the yo form of poder in the Conditional?
- A) podrías
- B) podríamos
- C) podríais
- D) podría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of poder in the Present subjunctive?
- A) podamos
- B) podáis
- C) pueda
- D) puedas
What is the yo form of poder in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) pudierais
- B) pudiera
- C) pudieras
- D) pudiéramos
What is the gerund of poder?
- A) podiendo
- B) haciendo
- C) diciendo
- D) yendo
What is the past participle of poder?
- A) hecho
- B) dicho
- C) ido
- D) podido
What does poder mean in English?
- A) to say
- B) to go
- C) to can
- D) to do
Answer key
- D) puedo — the yo form of poder in the present indicative is puedo. The other options (puedes, puede, podemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) pudo — the él/ella/Ud. form of poder in the preterite is pudo. The other options (pude, pudiste, pudimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) podíamos — the nosotros/as form of poder in the imperfect is podíamos. The other options (podía, podías, podía) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) podrás — the tú form of poder in the future is podrás. The other options (podré, podrá, podremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) podría — the yo form of poder in the conditional is podría. The other options (podrías, podría, podríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) pueda — the él/ella/Ud. form of poder in the present subjunctive is pueda. The other options (pueda, puedas, podamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) pudiera — the yo form of poder in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is pudiera. The other options (pudieras, pudiera, pudiéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) podiendo — the gerund of poder is podiendo; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) podido — the past participle of poder is podido; perfect tenses use haber + podido. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to can — poder means “to can” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does poder mean in English?
poder means “to can”. You use it for ability and permission, for possibility, and for polite requests. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is poder regular or irregular?
poder is irregular — stem-changing (o → ue), and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, future, conditional, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is podiendo and the past participle is podido.
What are the gerund and past participle of poder?
The gerund is podiendo — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is podido — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he podido (I have been able to).
What is the difference between poder and saber?
Poder is can or to be able to; saber is to know a fact or how to do something. If you are unsure, check the full table for saber and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I can” in Spanish?
Say “Yo puedo venir a la fiesta.” — “I can come to the party every day.” The yo form of the present is puedo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- poder in the preterite tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- poder examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Spanish irregular verbs — every common irregular Spanish verb, grouped by pattern.
- Hacer conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Decir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Ir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise poder with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise poder with the interactive tool.
- Preterite Vs Imperfect — practise poder with the interactive tool.