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lui poté

could, was able to

→ potere
pot to be able to; can + é 3rd person singular past tense
auxiliary · 3rd-person singular, past tense Rare #34,499
could, was able to This is the passato remoto, used mainly in written narratives and in some regions in speech.
IT: Alla fine poté entrare.
EN: In the end, she was able to come in.
Conjugation of potere
Indicative past
SingularPlural
Third poté —

Il ragazzo non poté parlar subito.

The boy couldn't speak right away.

Tom non poté vedere nulla.

Tom couldn't see anything.

Tom non poté mangiare per tre giorni.

Tom couldn't eat for three days.

La macchina si mise in moto e niente poté fermarla.

The machine got underway, and nothing could stop it.

— La fiamma del peccato (1944)

Non poté sposarla!

He couldn't marry her!

— I visitatori (1993)

Non poté finire la sua cena.

He couldn't finish his dinner.

Da lì, poté mandare l'SMS col cellulare di Laura.

From there, he was able to send the text message using Laura’s cell phone.

— Contrattempo (2017)