Learn Spanish (Latin America): Pudo robar el trono porque podía engañar al rey. - He managed to steal the throne because he was able to deceive the king.

Pudo robar el trono porque podía engañar al rey.

He managed to steal the throne because he was able to deceive the king.

Breakdown of Pudo robar el trono porque podía engañar al rey.

Questions & Answers about Pudo robar el trono porque podía engañar al rey.

Why is pudo translated as 'managed to' instead of 'could'?

Poder changes its meaning slightly depending on whether you use the preterite or the imperfect past tense. In the preterite, pudo means that he had the ability to do something and actually followed through and completed it. That is why it translates best as 'managed to' or 'succeeded in'.

Why is podía translated as 'was able to' instead of 'managed to' like the first verb?

Here, podía is in the imperfect tense. The imperfect describes an ongoing state or background information without focusing on a specific start or end. It means he had the ongoing ability or power to deceive the king, describing his general capability rather than one specific completed event.

Why is it al rey instead of just el rey?

This is the 'personal a' in action. In Spanish, when a specific person is the direct object of a verb (the one receiving the action, which here is being deceived), you must put the preposition a in front of them. When a is followed by the masculine article el, they naturally combine into the single word al.

Why are robar and engañar left in their infinitive (dictionary) forms?