Breakdown of Le personnel a pu aider les passagers.
avoir
to have
le passager
the passenger
aider
to help
pouvoir
to be able to / can
Questions & Answers about Le personnel a pu aider les passagers.
Why use the passé composé (a pu) here instead of the imparfait (pouvait)?
When pouvoir is used in the passé composé, it shifts in meaning from a general ability to a completed action. It means the staff managed to or succeeded in helping the passengers. If you used the imparfait (pouvait), it would mean they had the ability to help, but it wouldn't tell us if they actually took action.
"Staff" refers to a group of people, so why is the verb singular (a pu instead of ont pu)?
Although le personnel represents a group of people, it is a collective noun that is grammatically singular. Therefore, it must take the third-person singular conjugation, giving us a pu.
Why is there no preposition like à or de between pu and aider?
Modal verbs like pouvoir (can/to be able to), vouloir (to want), and devoir (to have to) are followed directly by an infinitive verb. You never put a preposition between the conjugated modal and the action verb (aider) that follows it.
If I wanted to say the staff "could have" helped (but didn't), would I still use a pu?
No, to express "could have," you need to use the conditional past: aurait pu. The passé composé form a pu means they were able to and definitely did it.