podíamos

Podíamos is the first-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb poder, meaning "we could" or "we were able to." It expresses past ability, capacity, or permission in a non-punctual sense and is commonly used for ongoing states or habitual past actions involving the subject nosotros.

Morphology and usage: Podíamos is formed from the verb poder in the imperfect with the ending -íamos for the nosotros form. The imperfect forms are can be contrasted with the preterite (pudimos, for a specific past event) and with the present tense (podemos). The negative form is no podíamos. The imperfect subjunctive, used in hypothetical or dependent clauses, is pudieramos or pudiésemos.

Examples: Podíamos ir al cine cada viernes cuando éramos niños. No podíamos asistir ayer porque llovía. Podíamos haber terminado el proyecto si hubiéramos tenido más tiempo. These illustrate habitual past capability, a specific past limitation, and a past hypothetical possibility.

Relation to other tenses: Podíamos coexists with otros tiempos de poder to express nuanced meanings of ability or opportunity in the past. In conditional and subjunctive contexts, forms like podríamos, pudiéramos, or pudiésemos adjust the aspect and mood while maintaining the same semantic root of poder.

Etymology: Poder derives from Latin posse (to be able), via Vulgar Latin into Old Spanish and modern Spanish. It shares cognates in other Romance languages, such as poder in Portuguese and pouvoir in French, all rooted in the same Latin origin.

See also: Poder, imperfect indicative, imperfect subjunctive, Spanish verb conjugation.