Pudimos

Pudimos is the first-person plural form of the Spanish verb poder in the preterite tense, meaning "we could" or "we were able to." It is used to describe a completed action in the past in which the subject had the ability and the action was carried out.

Pudimos is irregular in the preterite. The full preterite paradigm of poder is: pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron. The stem pud- appears in the forms for nosotros and the other persons in this tense, differentiating it from the present tense poder forms. In the imperfect tense, the corresponding forms use pud- only in some dialects; the standard imperfect is podía, podíamos, etc.

Usage notes include the distinction between affirmative and negative meanings. With a positive sense, pudimos often conveys that we managed to do something. With negation, no pudimos generally means we were not able to do it. The preterite emphasizes that the action happened and was completed, whereas the imperfect would express a past ongoing ability or repeated past possibility.

Etymology: poder comes from Latin posse/potere, and the preterite stem pud- reflects an irregular historical development in Spanish’s verb system.

Examples:

- Ayer pudimos terminar el proyecto a tiempo.

- No pudimos asistir a la reunión por la lluvia.

- Podemos comparar pudimos con las formas del presente poder: puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podéis, pueden.