A putea means can / to be able to. It is the core modal verb of Romanian and belongs to the second conjugation (the -ea class, with a bea, a vedea, a vrea). Two things make it special. First, its stem alternates between o and oa: pot (I can) but poate (he can). Second — and this is its truly unique trait — a putea is the only Romanian modal that accepts both complement patterns: a bare short infinitive (pot merge, "I can go") and a conjunctiv clause (pot să merg, "I can go"). Every other modal-like verb (a vrea, a trebui) is locked to one pattern, but a putea freely takes either, with no change in meaning. Layered on top, its conditional aș putea ("I could / might") is the standard polite softener.
Prezent indicativ
The stressed singular forms split: pot (1sg) with o, but poți / poate with the diphthong oa appearing only in poate. Note poți keeps o while poate takes oa.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | pot |
| tu | poți |
| el / ea | poate |
| noi | putem |
| voi | puteți |
| ei / ele | pot |
Pot să te ajut cu bagajele, dacă vrei.
I can help you with the luggage, if you want.
Nu poate veni la petrecere, e plecat din țară.
He can't come to the party, he's out of the country.
Imperfect
Built on the pute- stem with regular -eam endings. The diphthong vanishes; everything is built on put-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | puteam |
| tu | puteai |
| el / ea | putea |
| noi | puteam |
| voi | puteați |
| ei / ele | puteau |
Pe vremea aia nu puteam să-mi permit chiria singur.
Back then I couldn't afford the rent on my own.
Perfect compus
Auxiliary a avea plus the participle putut.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | am putut |
| tu | ai putut |
| el / ea | a putut |
| noi | am putut |
| voi | ați putut |
| ei / ele | au putut |
Îmi pare rău, n-am putut ajunge la timp din cauza traficului.
I'm sorry, I couldn't make it on time because of the traffic.
Mai-mult-ca-perfectul
Synthetic pluperfect on the participle stem putuse-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | putusem |
| tu | putuseși |
| el / ea | putuse |
| noi | putuserăm |
| voi | putuserăți |
| ei / ele | putuseră |
Era epuizat: nu putuse dormi toată noaptea.
He was exhausted: he hadn't been able to sleep all night.
Viitor
| Person | Viitor (voi-form, formal) | Colloquial (o să) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | voi putea | o să pot |
| tu | vei putea | o să poți |
| el / ea | va putea | o să poată |
| noi | vom putea | o să putem |
| voi | veți putea | o să puteți |
| ei / ele | vor putea | o să poată |
O să poți să te odihnești după ce terminăm proiectul.
You'll be able to rest after we finish the project.
Conjunctiv prezent
The 3rd person is the irregular (să) poată, with the diphthong oa before the -ă ending.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | să pot |
| tu | să poți |
| el / ea | să poată |
| noi | să putem |
| voi | să puteți |
| ei / ele | să poată |
Am lăsat o lumină aprinsă ca să poată găsi ușa.
I left a light on so he could find the door.
Condițional prezent
Conditional auxiliary plus the short infinitive putea. This is the everyday polite "could."
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | aș putea |
| tu | ai putea |
| el / ea | ar putea |
| noi | am putea |
| voi | ați putea |
| ei / ele | ar putea |
Ați putea să-mi spuneți cât e ceasul, vă rog?
Could you tell me what time it is, please?
Imperativ
A putea has no imperative in normal use — you cannot command someone "be able!" Ability is not something one can be ordered to do. To express the idea, speakers fall back on other verbs (e.g., Descurcă-te! "Manage it!"). The impersonal se poate? ("may I? / is it allowed?") is the closest everyday request form.
| Form | |
|---|---|
| tu / voi | — (no imperative) |
Se poate să intru o clipă?
May I come in for a moment?
Forme nepersonale
The gerund is putând (with â). The participle putut is common, but the supine de putut is rare in practice.
| Form | Romanian |
|---|---|
| Infinitiv | (a) putea |
| Gerunziu | putând |
| Participiu | putut |
| Supin | (de putut — rar) |
Usage
The headline feature is dual complementation. A putea is the one verb that lets you choose between a bare short infinitive and a să-clause with no difference in meaning: pot merge = pot să merg ("I can go"). The bare-infinitive option sounds slightly more compact and is common with a putea specifically; the să-version is the safe default and is more frequent in speech. The impersonal se poate ("it's possible / it's allowed") and the conditional s-ar putea ("it might be / maybe") are extremely common.
Nu pot veni mâine, dar pot să trec joi.
I can't come tomorrow, but I can stop by on Thursday.
S-ar putea să plouă diseară, ia o umbrelă.
It might rain tonight, take an umbrella.
Se poate și mai bine de atât, hai să mai încercăm o dată.
It can be even better than this, let's try once more.
Putând alege oricând, a ales să rămână.
Being able to leave at any time, she chose to stay.
Source-language note for English speakers
English "can" is a defective modal: it has no infinitive (to can is impossible), no participle, and borrows "be able to" for the missing pieces. Romanian a putea is a full verb — it has a complete paradigm including an infinitive, a gerund (putând), and a participle (putut) — so you never need a workaround like "be able to." Two things still trip English speakers up. First, English follows "can" with a bare verb ("I can go"), and learners assume Romanian must always insert să; in fact a putea uniquely allows both (pot merge and pot să merg). Second, the polite "could" is not a past tense here — aș putea is the present conditional and is the normal way to make a courteous request, exactly like English "could you...".
Common Mistakes
❌ El pote să vină mâine.
Incorrect — the 3sg has the diphthong: poate, not pote.
✅ El poate să vină mâine.
He can come tomorrow.
❌ Noi poatem termina azi.
Incorrect — the 1pl uses the u-stem: putem, not poatem.
✅ Noi putem termina azi.
We can finish today.
❌ Vreau să poate veni și el.
Incorrect — the 3rd person conjunctiv is poată, not poate.
✅ Vreau să poată veni și el.
I want him to be able to come too.
❌ Aș poate să vin mâine.
Incorrect — the conditional is invariant aș/ai/ar + infinitive: aș putea, never a conjugated aș poate.
✅ Aș putea să vin mâine.
I could come tomorrow.
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- Class II Present: -ea VerbsA2 — How to conjugate the small but high-frequency Class II (-ea) verbs in the present indicative, with full paradigms for a vedea, a putea, and a plăcea.
- Expressing Possibility (se poate, s-ar putea, poate)B1 — Romanian's gradient of 'maybe' — poate (că) + indicative as a neutral adverb, se poate să for 'it's possible/allowed', s-ar putea să for the tentative 'it might', e posibil să — and the rule that every 'possible' frame governs a să-clause, so 'it might rain' is s-ar putea SĂ plouă, never an infinitive.
- Conjunctiv vs Infinitive: The Balkan ChoiceB1 — When Romanian uses a să-conjunctiv where its Romance cousins use the infinitive, and the handful of constructions where the infinitive survives — the structural signature of Romanian.
- a vrea — to wantA1 — Full conjugation of the irregular verb a vrea (to want), its relationship to the future auxiliary, and why 'want to' always becomes a să-clause in Romanian.
- a ști — to know (a fact)A1 — Full conjugation of a ști (to know a fact), an irregular verb with doubled-i forms (știi, știind), no true imperative, and the key a ști să vs a cunoaște contrast.