How interchangeable are the tenses?

Dominic N.C1Kwiziq community member

Someone else has asked a similar question but in regards to the interchangeability of the tenses, if you were to say "You could have called me the whole evening", can you still say "Podrías/Podías haberme llamado toda la tarde" or do you have to use "Pudiste haberme llamado toda la tarde" because it is in a set time frame now?

This question relates to:Spanish lesson "Using poder to say could have [done something] in Spanish (modal verbs)"

Asked 2 years ago

Like0Answer1

InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hola Dominic

Generally, using one tense or another comes with a nuance, i.e. considering the action as a completed action in the past (preterite) or expressing this action with no relevance towards when it ended (imperfect), for example, but in this case, with poder, that nuance is not perceived and I would say all three tenses reflect the same meaning.

Saludos

Inma

Like12 years ago

Dominic N. asked:

How interchangeable are the tenses?

Someone else has asked a similar question but in regards to the interchangeability of the tenses, if you were to say "You could have called me the whole evening", can you still say "Podrías/Podías haberme llamado toda la tarde" or do you have to use "Pudiste haberme llamado toda la tarde" because it is in a set time frame now?

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