Someone else has asked a similar question but in regards to the interchangeability of the tenses, if you were to say "You could have called me the whole evening", can you still say "Podrías/Podías haberme llamado toda la tarde" or do you have to use "Pudiste haberme llamado toda la tarde" because it is in a set time frame now?
How interchangeable are the tenses?
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
Dominic N.Kwiziq community member
How interchangeable are the tenses?
This question relates to:Spanish lesson "Using poder to say could have [done something] in Spanish (modal verbs)"
Asked 2 years ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in Kwiziq
Hola Dominic
Generally, using one tense or another comes with a nuance, i.e. considering the action as a completed action in the past (preterite) or expressing this action with no relevance towards when it ended (imperfect), for example, but in this case, with poder, that nuance is not perceived and I would say all three tenses reflect the same meaning.
Saludos
Inma
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Ask a question
Find your Spanish level for FREE
Test your Spanish to the CEFR standard
Find your Spanish level