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Yo pude descubrir algo más antiguo que esa ruina.

Yo pude descubrir algo más antiguo que esa ruina.
I was able to discover something older than that ruin.
From Lesson 104:Irregular preterite stems·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Yo pude descubrir algo más antiguo que esa ruina.

Why is the verb poder conjugated as pude here?
In the preterite (completed past) tense, poder is highly irregular. Its stem changes from pod- to pud-, and it takes a special set of endings. For yo (I), that special ending is -e, which gives us pude.
Does pude descubrir mean I just had the ability, or that I actually discovered it?
It means you actually discovered it! When you use poder in the preterite tense (pude), it implies that an action was completed, often translating to 'I managed to' or 'I succeeded in'. If you only wanted to say you had the ability in the past, but didn't necessarily do it, you would use the imperfect tense (podía).
How does the 'older than' part work in algo más antiguo que?
Spanish does not use suffixes like '-er' to compare things. Instead, you use the formula más (more) + adjective + que (than). So 'older than' literally translates to 'more old than', which is más antiguo que.
Why use esa for 'that' instead of ese or esta?
Esa means 'that' for feminine nouns, matching the feminine word ruina. If the noun were masculine, you would use ese. You wouldn't use esta because that means 'this' (esta ruina = this ruin, esa ruina = that ruin).

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