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The verb poder

The Verb PODERThe verb PODER means

“to be able to” or “can”

The Verb PODERRemember, in Spanish all verbs have two parts, the stem and the ending.

The Verb PoderFor example POD is the stemER is the ending…thus makes PODER

Stem Changing VerbsPODER is what we call a “stem-changing verb”.

Stem Changing VerbsThe “stem” is what changes, so the stem POD changes the “o” to “ue” in all forms except the nosotros.

Stem Changing VerbsSo instead of POD, you have PUED.The endings follow the regular ‘er’ endings.

TO BE ABLE TO, CANI CAN

YOU CAN

HESHE CANIT

WE CAN

THEY CAN

Remember “ER” Endings?o

es

e

emos éis

en

PODERyo puedo

tú puedes

ud.él puedeella

nosotros podemos

(NO CHANGE)

uds.ellos puedenellas

Uses of PODERWhen the forms of PODER are followed by another verb, the second verb is always an infinitive.

Uses of PODERFor example:No puedo ir al cine contigo el viernes.

Let’s review PODER againand remember, you doNOT change the nosotros or the vosotrosforms!

PODERyo puedo

tú puedes

ud.él puedeella

nosotros podemos

(NO CHANGE)vosotros podéis

uds.ellos puedenellas

DORMIR

The verb DORMIR is very similar to PODER. It means “to sleep.”

DORMIRDORMIR is a “stem-changing” verb.It is an “o > ue” stem-changing verb.

DORMIRThe stem of “dormir” is…“dorm”What changes?

“duerm”

DORMIRDORMIR follows regular “-ir” endings. o, es, e, imos, ís, en

DORMIRAll forms change except the nosotros form.

Let’s see!

TO SLEEPI sleep

You sleep

HeShe

sleepsIt

We sleep

They sleep

DORMIRyo duermo

tú duermes

élella duermeUd.

nos. dormimos

(NO CHANGE)

ellos ellas

duermen Uds.