Она смогла удержать тяжёлую дверь.

the door

Breakdown of Она смогла удержать тяжёлую дверь.

• она: she
• тяжёлый: heavy
• смочь: to manage

Questions & Answers about Она смогла удержать тяжёлую дверь.

Why is it смогла and not смог?

Because the subject is она (she), and Russian past-tense verbs agree with gender and number.

• смог = masculine singular past
• смогла = feminine singular past
• смогло = neuter singular past
• смогли = plural

So:

• Он смог = He managed
• Она смогла = She managed

The -ла ending is the key sign that the subject is feminine.

What does смогла mean here?

Смогла is the past tense of смочь, which means to be able to, to manage to, or to succeed in doing something.

In this sentence, она смогла удержать means:

• she was able to hold
• she managed to hold
• she succeeded in holding

It often suggests that the action was difficult, but she succeeded.

Why is it смогла, not могла?