Conocer

• Conocí a mi esposa en 2009. Pronto después empezamos a salir. (pretérito)
  • I met my wife in 2009. Soon after we began dating.
• Juan conocía a María durante la escuela primaria. (imperfecto)
  • Juan knew María during elementary school.

Saber

• Ella supo que no iban a llegar hasta el próximo día. (pretérito)
  • She found out that they were not going to arrive until the next day.
• Yo sabía la respuesta, pero la pregunta me confundió. (imperfecto)
  • I knew the answer, but the question confused me.

Poder

• Pude abrir la puerta pero fue difícil. (pretérito)
  • I was able to open (succeeded in opening) the door, but it was difficult.
• Sin embargo, no pude abrir las ventanas porque pintaron sobre las grietas. (pretérito)
  • However, I failed to open (I tried but failed to open) the windows because they painted over the cracks.
• Aunque podían llegar temprano, llegaron tarde. (imperfecto)
  • Although they were able to (had the ability to) arrive early, they arrived late.

Querer

• Quise abrir la puerta pero no pude. (pretérito)
  • I tried to (attempted to) open the door but was unable to do so.
• El gerente no quiso hablar conmigo. Por eso, escribí una reseña negativa en línea. (pretérito)
  • The manager refused to speak with me. That is why I wrote a negative review online.
• La niña quería recibir una nueva muñeca para su cumpleaños. (imperfecto)
  • The little girl wanted to receive a new doll for her birthday.