May 05, 2015 - 07:23 AM
I would agree with Michael A. The example he gives implies an “if clause,” which is what I was getting at. —I could go swimming this afternoon (if I wanted to, or, but I don’t have the time, etc.) In other words, that statement has a ‘condition.’
You could also consider it as a statement of fact. “I could go swimming this afternoon.”
In effect, this simply says you are able to swim, not that you will or won’t. In which case you could use “Ho potuto.”
I think the bottom line is that context determines “the correct translation,” although I suspect an Italian wouldn’t care–or even notice–which verb tense you’re using. It all seems rather academic to me. Not that I don’t care about being correct, but we wouldn’t notice the difference as English speakers, so in everyday Italian, you could probably use either tense.
Any comment Fluenz?