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Intentaron superar el obstáculo, pero no pudieron.

Intentaron superar el obstáculo, pero no pudieron.
They tried to overcome the obstacle, but they could not.
From Lesson 133:Preterite u-stems (tuve, estuve, pude)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Intentaron superar el obstáculo, pero no pudieron.

Why is it pudieron and not "poderon"?
The verb poder (to be able to) belongs to a special group of verbs that change their stem in the Preterite tense. Its stem changes to pud- (a "u-stem"). It then uses a special set of endings, giving us pudieron for "they could".
Why does intentaron end in "-aron" but pudieron ends in "-ieron"?
Intentar (to try) is a regular "-ar" verb, so it takes the normal "-aron" ending for "they" in the Preterite. Poder is an "-er" verb, so even though it has an irregular stem, its ending is based on the standard "-er/-ir" pattern, which is "-ieron".
Why is superar in the infinitive (dictionary) form instead of being conjugated?
When you have two verbs working together to express one action, like "tried to overcome", only the first verb is conjugated to show who is doing the action (intentaron). The second verb stays in the infinitive form (superar).
The English says "they could not", so why use the Preterite (pudieron) instead of the Imperfect (podían)?
In Spanish, using the Preterite no pudieron means they made a specific attempt at a specific time and failed. If the sentence used the Imperfect no podían, it would describe a general, ongoing inability in the past, without focusing on the end result of a specific try.

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