Podíamos v. Pudimos

William M.A1Kwiziq community member

Podíamos v. Pudimos

I am unsure why you choose imperfect for being able to see the view on that particular occasion.

This question relates to:Spanish writing exercise "Weekend in Barcelona"

Freeform Writing Exercise A2

Asked 4 years ago

Like7Answer2

Julia B.B2Kwiziq community member

I was wondsering the same thing as William. I feel it should have been pudimos, simple preterite.

Like03 years ago

Stephanie S.B1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Since no one ever answered this, I will toss out my thought, and maybe it will spark a discussion: my understanding of the preterite with poder is that it is indicative of being successful at being able to do something--" pude reparar la bicicleta"--whereas the imperfect indicates a general sense of being able to do something--we could see all of Barcelona, as could anyone else who went up there.

Can anyone corroborate or refute this?

Like03 years ago

William M. asked:

Podíamos v. Pudimos

I am unsure why you choose imperfect for being able to see the view on that particular occasion.

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