PONER, PODER and SABER in the Preterite The verbs poner, poder and saber have irregular conjugations in the Preterite tense. They all have a stem change where they have a “u” in the stem. PONER – to put / to place yo puse nosotros pusimos tú pusiste vosotros pusisteis él/ella/ud puso ellos/uds pusieron *** Notice that the “n” also changes to “s”
PODER – to manage / could not yo pude nosotros pudimos tú pudiste vosotros pudisteis él/ella/ud pudo ellos/uds pudieron The verb PODER has different meanings in the Preterite tense. In the Present tense PODER means “to be able”. In the Preterite, it means “managed” in an affirmative sentence and “could not” in a negative sentence. Pude parar. I managed to stop. (after trying) No pude parar. I could not stop. (I tried, but failed)
SABER – found out / learned about yo supe nosotros supimos tú supiste vosotros supisteis él/ella/ud supo ellos/uds supieron * Notice that the “b” changes to “p” in the stem ** The verb SABER means “to know” in the Present, but means “to find out” or “to learn about” in the Preterite. Ana sabe la repuesta. Ana knows the answer. Ana supo la repuesta. Ana found out [learned about] the answer.