podem

Podem is the third-person plural present indicative form of the Portuguese verb poder, meaning they can or you all can. It is used to express ability, possibility, or permission in present statements, questions, and subordinate clauses. For example: Eles podem participar do evento amanhã. Pode indicar that a group or audience has the capacity to perform an action.

In standard Portuguese, the present indicative of poder is: eu posso, tu podes, ele pode, nós podemos, vós podeis (rarely used today), vocês podem. In Brazil, the form for the second person plural is usually vocês podem. The form podem appears specifically for the third-person plural subject. Podem also appears in subordinate clauses where the subject is they, as in "Eles podem vir mais tarde, se começarem agora."

Etymology traces poder to Latin potēre, from the Proto-Indo-European root *pot- meaning to be able. The verb has irregularities in its various tenses, but the present indicative forms are among the most commonly used in everyday speech. The word poden carries no specialized meaning beyond this grammatical function in Portuguese; it is not a standalone noun or named term in standard usage.

Usage notes: Podem is versatile across registers, from informal conversation to formal writing. To negate, add não: não podem. To form questions, invert or use rising intonation: Podem vir amanhã?