Verb Practice - poder

A new verb that we want to learn is "poder". This means "can" or "is able to do". Forms of "poder" are followed by the "R" form of the verb that tells us what someone "can" do.

There is a change in the stem of this verb. Notice that in the "R" form as well as in the "mos" form, the combination "ue" changes to a single vowel "o". This will be a pattern that we will see with other verbs also. This is because in these two forms, the stress is moved away from the stem. You can only have the "ue" combination when it is the stressed syllable.

Here is the chart for the forms of "poder".

I can      - yo puedo
you can    - tú puedes
he/she can - él/ella puede
we can     - nosotros podemos
they can   - ellos/ellas pueden