"Inquire and You Shall Receive" is one of those age-old sayings that anybody repeats simply no one really applies. How do you know what to ask for? How exercise you know if it'due south the right time to ask? What happens if someone says no to your request? Most difficult of all, how do you ask for something in a dissimilar language? In this commodity, we'll go over the Spanish verb pedir , meaning to ask. More specifically, we'll expect at pedir conjugation. Past the end, you'll know exactly how to enquire for what you need, no thing the circumstances.

We'll also look at some of the interesting differences in meaning within the verb pedir, and some mutual idioms and expressions using the verb, to add some ease in your day-to-day conversations. Let's get started!

What Kind of Verb is Pedir?

If you've been reading all the articles for Castilian conjugation on this blog, you'll already know that many of the verbs we cover are irregular. Pedir is yet another verb that likes to break common conjugation rules for verbs catastrophe in -ir, -er, and –ar. This is what makes pedir irregular. While y'all might be used to irregular verbs already, it's important to go over the specifics of each of them. That'due south because different regular verbs, you can't really predict how it will be conjugated based on your noesis of other verbs. Allow me give you an case:

The Castilian verb vivir, meaning to live, also ends in "ir" only is a regular verb. That's because no matter how information technology is conjugated, its stem never changes, remaining "viv" for all tenses and subjects. For example: yo vivo (I alive), tú vives (you live), el/ella vivdue east (he/she lives)… as you can see, the stem of the verb always remains the same, no thing how the verb is conjugated.

This dominion doesn't work for pedir. Instead of its stalk e'er being "ped", it changes depending on different subjects and verb tenses. For instance, to say "I ask", you say "yo pido". We'll become over the intricacies of this verb in considerable detail below. While it may seem similar a daunting task to learn all these irregular verbs by heart, the Cloze Collection at the end of this weblog post is a actually adept tool to practice with. Soon, yous'll have memorized pedir and so well that conjugating it will simply exist like muscle retentiveness!

If you're looking to practice conjugating other irregular Spanish verbs, why not attempt some of the Cloze Collections on other manufactures? Check out "dormir" (to sleep), "venir" (to come) , and "oír" (to hear) for some more than exercise.

Ordering, Asking, Calling: The Different Meanings of Pedir.

Unlike in English, where there is a departure between request and ordering, both of these verbs collapse into a single 1 in Castilian. Pedir can mean "to ask", "to order", "to call for" and fifty-fifty "to apologize"! That'due south why pedir is such a valuable verb to know, because it is and then versatile that you'll be able to use it in lots of dissimilar contexts.

At present, allow's look at a few example sentences for the different meanings of pedir:

  • Pedir ayuda (To enquire for assist):

"No te olvides de pedir ayuda si la necesitas" -> Don't forget to ask for help if y'all demand it.

  • Pedir comida (To order food):

"La novia de Jack se sentía triste, entonces Jack le pidió una pizza para alegrarla" -> Jack'south girlfriend felt distressing, so he ordered her a pizza to help her feel improve.

  • Pedir united nations taxi (To call a cab):

"La fiesta está lejos, mejor pedimos united nations taxi" -> The political party is far away, it'due south best if we call a cab

  • Pedir perdón (To repent)

"Le tuve que pedir perdón a María, porque sin querer le he roto el móvil" -> I had to repent to María considering I accidentally bankrupt her telephone.

Some other note of circumspection that is proficient to keep in heed between Spanish and English is that the Castilian verb "ordenar" sounds a lot similar "to order" in English language. Don't let this similarity fool you though. Ordenar means "to organize", non "to club". When you want to say "to club", make certain to use pedir.

Pedir Verbals

Now, let's move on to some of the more potentially confusing aspects of Spanish verb conjugation. After all, it's best to become the harder stuff out of the way and so that the rest simply seems similar a cakewalk. Let's look at pedir'south verbals. The only reason verbals tin exist confusing is because, despite their proper noun, verbals exist when verbs don't human activity similar verbs in a specific sentence. Instead, they can act like nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. So, if you e'er encounter a judgement where y'all notice an unconjugated version of the verb "pedir", aslope a conjugated version of another verb, odds are pedir is operating using its verbals. Let'due south become over three of pedir's verbals: the infinitive (infinitivo), the gerund (gerundio), and the participle (participio).

Infinitivo (infinitive)

The infinitive of the verb "pedir" is simply "pedir". Piece of cake, right? That'due south because you use information technology in sentences when pedir is simply a qualifying word for another agile verb.

For example: "¿Mamá, puedo pedir un libro nuevo?" means "Mom, can I social club a new book?" In this case, the acting verb is "poder" (to be able to), rather than "pedir".

Gerundio (gerund)

The gerund of "pedir" is "pidiendo" (asking). We employ it when the agile verb in a sentence is "estar" (to be).

For example: "Joe tiene un problema con su coche. Ahora está pidiendo la ayuda de un mecánico", significant "Joe has a trouble with his motorcar. At present he's asking for assist from a mechanic".

Participio (participle)

The participle of "pedir" is "pedido" (asked), and we use it when the active verb in a sentence is "haber" (to take).

For example: "Tenemos que irnos, ¿Has pedido ya la cuenta?", means "We have to go. Take you already asked for the pecker?" In this case, the verb haber is conjugated to "has" (take you), and pedido remains the aforementioned no affair how haber is conjugated.

Verbals can be quite hard, so well done for taking them on and then before long. At present permit'southward move onto the fun role (at to the lowest degree for u.s.a.): Pedir conjugation tables!

All-Levels Pedir Conjugation

The fact that pedir is irregular shouldn't scare you away from being able to conjugate it properly. Pedir conjugation can exist easily mastered with the right foundation. The following conjugation tables and judgement examples should requite you lot the right building blocks to starting time using this verb correctly.

No Impairment in Asking: Imperative Pedir Conjugation

Permit's showtime with how to utilize "pedir" when voicing a command. Possibly you want to tell someone to society something for you, or to enquire for something on your behalf. Maybe in an emergency, at that place isn't much time to ask for something politely, so you need to command someone to help you lot. Permit'due south look into this.

Discipline Imperativo

(Imperative)

"Enquire" (command)

Yo (I) Pido
Tu (You)

Vos (Latin America)

 Pide

Pedí
El/Ella (He/She/It)

Usted (You lot, formal)

 Pida
Nosotros (We) Pidamos
Vosotros (You, plural)

Ustedes (Latin America)

 Pedid

Pidan
Ellos/Ellas (They/Them) Pidan

Example Sentences for Imperative Conjugation

  • "Tengo hambre; ¿pido una pizza y la compartimos?: -> "I'm hungry, should I order a pizza for u.s. to share?"
  • "Pidamos la cuenta, que va a cerrar el restaurante" -> "The restaurant is closing, so permit'southward ask for the bill."
  • "Vamos a llegar tarde, pedid vosotros la comida" -> "We're going to be late, you guys go ahead and order nutrient."
  • "Cuando estés en la cafetería, pide un chocolate con churros. ¡Está riquísimo!" -> "When you get to the café, order hot chocolate with churros. Information technology's delicious!"

Ask Away: Beginner Pedir Conjugation

At present that you lot know how to utilize pedir in the imperative tense, let's explore some beginner conjugation tenses, beginning with the present tense (presente), ii different versions of the past tense, perfect (perfecto), and imperfect (imperfecto) and the future tense (futuro). These should exist relatively straightforward and easy to practice through the Cloze Collection at the cease of this article.

Field of study Presente (Nowadays)

"Inquire"

Perfecto (Perfect)

"Asked"

Imperfecto (Imperfect)

"was asking"

Futuro
(Hereafter)

"volition inquire"

Yo (I) Pido Pedí Pedía Pediré
Tu (You)

Vos (Latin America)

 Pides

Pedís

 Pediste Pedías Pedirás
El/Ella (He/She/It)

Usted (You, formal)

 Pide Pidió Pedía Pedirá
Nosotros (Nosotros) Pedimos Pedimos Pedíamos Pediremos
Vosotros (You, plural)

Ustedes (Latin America)

 Pedís

Piden

 Pedisteis

Pidieron

 Pedíais

Pedían

 Pediréis

Pedirán
Ellos/Ellas (They/Them) Piden Pidieron Pedían Pedirán

Example Sentences for Beginner Conjugation

  • Present: "Pedimos united nations taxi porque empezó a llover cuando salimos." -> "Nosotros called a cab considering it started raining when we went out."
  • Perfect: "Hoy no quise cocinar, entonces pedí comida China." -> "I didn't feel similar cooking today, so I ordered Chinese food."
  • Imperfect: "Cuando Susana era estudiante, pedía mucho la ayuda de sus profesores." -> "When Susana was a student, she ofttimes asked for her professors' help."
  • Time to come: "En cuanto termine la reunión, pediremos united nations descanso" -> "We'll enquire for a break equally soon as the meeting ends."

Asking For It: Pedir Conjugation for Intermediate Learners

If you're really enthusiastic about verb conjugation, fear not! In that location are many more tenses to go over for pedir. Next up, we'll expect at compound tenses blending the verb haber "to accept" and pedir. These tenses are called pretérito perfecto compuesto (chemical compound perfect preterite), which deals with the nowadays, pluscuamperfecto (pluperfect) which deals with the past, and futuro compuesto (future perfect), which addresses the future.

Subject Pretérito perfecto compuesto

(Compound Perfect Preterite)

"Have asked"

Pluscuamperfecto

(Pluperfect)

"Had asked"

Futuro Compuesto

(Future Perfect)

"Will take asked"

Yo (I) He pedido Había pedido Habré pedido
Tu (You)

Vos (Latin America)

 Has pedido Habías pedido Habrás pedido
El/Ella (He/She/It)

Usted (Yous, formal)

 Ha pedido Había pedido Habrá pedido
We (We) Hemos pedido Habíamos pedido Habremos pedido
Vosotros (Y'all, plural)

Ustedes (Latin America)

 Habeís pedido

Han pedido

 Habíais pedido

Habían pedido

 Habréis pedido

Habrán pedido
Ellos/Ellas (Them) Han pedido Habían pedido Habrán pedido

Example Sentences for Intermediate Conjugation

  • Chemical compound Perfect Preterite: "Hemos pedido unos días libres porque queremos ir de vacaciones a la playa." -> "Nosotros asked for a few days off because we desire to go to the beach on holiday."
  • Pluperfect: "Claudia ya había pedido la cena cuando por fin llegó Luis, quejándose del tráfico" -> "Claudia had already ordered dinner when Luis finally arrived, complaining about traffic."
  • Future Perfect: "Mejor nos vemos otro día, porque para cuando llegue ya habréis pedido la cuenta." -> Information technology might be better to see each other another day, because by the time I get in you'll have already asked for the neb."

Is This What You Asked For?: Avant-garde Pedir Conjugation

If y'all're up for a challenge, these side by side few verb tables are for you! We're going to await at subjunctive tenses. In Castilian, the subjunctive is used to express ambiguity, potential, or dubiousness. For example, if you lot wanted to say "If I were to social club", you would say "si pidiere". The following tabular array volition show yous how to employ pedir in three different subjunctive tenses: nowadays subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), subjunctive imperfect preterite (subjuntivo pretérito imperfecto), and future subjunctive (subjuntivo futuro).

Subject field Present Subjunctive (subjuntivo presente)

"Ask" (uncertain)

Subjunctive imperfect preterite (subjuntivo pretérito imperfecto)

"Were to take asked"

Futurity Subjunctive

(Subjuntivo Futuro)

"Were to enquire"

Yo (I) Pida Pidiera or Pidiese Pidiere
Tú (You)

Vos (Latin America)

 Pidas Pidieras or Pidieses Pidieres
El/Ella (He/She/Information technology)

Usted (Formal)

 Pida Pidiera or Pidiese Pidiere
We (We) Pidamos Pidiéramos or Pidiésemos Pidiéremos
Vosotros (You, plural)

Ustedes (Latin America)

 Pidáis

Pidan

 Pidierais or Pidieseis

Pidieran or Pidieren

 Pidiereis

Pidieren
Ellos/Ellas (Them) Pidan Pidieran or Pidieren Pidieren

Example Sentences for Avant-garde Conjugation

  • Present Subjunctive: "Cuando pidas el libro, no olvides de conseguir una firma del autor." -> "When you order the book, don't forget to get a signature from the author."
  • Subjunctive Imperfect Preterite "Si pidierais más ayuda, no os costarían tanto las matemáticas" -> "If yous asked for some more help, you wouldn't struggle and so much with math."
  • Future Subjunctive "Si te pidiere prestado tu disco, te lo devolvería en perfectas condiciones" -> "If I were to ask to borrow your CD, I would return information technology to you in perfect condition."

If information technology's OK to Ask: Conditional Pedir Conjugation

You're virtually done mastering pedir, well done for getting here! At present permit'due south expect at the provisional tense for pedir, so that you can express asking depending on different circumstances. For example, you might want to say "I would have ordered the bill if I had known y'all were going to be late". For this, yous'd use the conditional "habría pedido la cuenta si supiera que ibas a llegar tarde." The next table will become over two provisional tenses: standard conditional (condicional) and perfect conditional (condicional perfecto).

Subject Condicional

(Conditional)

"Would ask"

Condicional Perfecto (Perfect Provisional)

"Would have asked"

Yo (I) Pediría Habría pedido
Tu (You lot)

Vos (Latin America)

 Pedirías

Pedirías

 Habrías pedido
El/Ella (He/She/Information technology)

Usted (You, formal)

 Pediría Habría pedido
Nosotros (Nosotros) Pediríamos Habríamos pedido
Vosotros (You, plural)

Ustedes (Latin America)

 Pediríais

Pedirían

 Habríais pedido

Habrían pedido
Ellos/Ellas (They/Them) Pedirían Habrían pedido

Instance Sentences for Provisional Conjugation

  • Conditional: "Me pedirías ayuda si la necesitaras, no?" -> "You lot would ask me for aid if you needed it, right?"
  • Perfect Conditional: "Si hubiese sabido que estabais de compras, os habría pedido que me compréis una camiseta" -> "If I had known you were shopping, I would have asked you to buy me a t-shirt."

Pedir Expressions and Idioms

Astonishing job working through all these different verb tenses! Pedir conjugation tin can be complicated, but with a little practice you'll accept mastered it in no fourth dimension. Let'south finish with something to add a picayune fun and ease to your Spanish vocabulary. There are many dissimilar expressions and idioms that apply the verb pedir, which tin add lots of bang-up fluency to your conversations. Here are merely a few of them:

  • Pedirle peras al olmo: This one sounds a scrap strange when directly translated, considering it literally means "to ask for pears of the elm tree". But really, what it means is to enquire for something impossible.
  • Pedir un deseo: This directly translates to "asking for a wish", but it means "making a wish". Nice, correct?
  • Pedir el cuerpo: This expression is interesting, as information technology is used to refer to actually wanting or craving something. It literally translates to "the torso asks for it". For example, yous might say: "Quiero un helado, me lo pide el cuerpo", meaning "I want an water ice cream, I'thou actually craving it".
  • Pedir la mano de alguien: This quite literally means "to inquire for someone's hand (in marriage)", but it is typically used in a less formal tone in Castilian, where it but means "to propose" or to ask someone to marry yous.
  • Pedir prestado: This ways to borrow, and it is used because there is no equivalent verb in Spanish for borrowing.
  • Salir a pedir de boca: This expression is pretty weird because its direct translation makes no sense, and its actual significant has nothing to do with the words it uses. Literally, it translates to "going out to ask of mouth". What it means, though, is "for everything to go well" or "going smoothly".

Asking Nicely: Conclusion

In this article, nosotros've really done a deep dive into the of import fundamental tenses for pedir conjugation at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. We've besides looked at some of the verbals for pedir, and some of the dissimilar meanings that collapse into this one verb in Spanish. Finally, we ended with some common expressions and idioms using the verb and so you can expand your vocabulary.

With all this information, you lot're well on your style to mastering pedir despite the fact that it is an irregular verb. If you'd similar some actual interactive do, why not try out the specialized cloze collection at the end of this post, which specifically explores all the fundamental lessons we've looked at today! At present, you're more than ready to ask for (and hopefully get) whatever you want in Spanish!

Claiming yourself with Clozemaster

Learning the pedir conjugation might seem daunting at showtime, simply don't worry, it comes naturally with practice.

Exam your skills and come across what you've learned from this article by playing a selection of sentences with forms of the verb pedir.

Sign up here to save your progress and commencement getting fluent with thousands of Spanish sentences at Clozemaster.

Clozemasterhas been designed to help yous larn the language in context past filling in the gaps in authentic sentences. With features such as Grammer Challenges, Cloze-Listening, and Cloze-Reading, the app will allow yous emphasize all the competencies necessary to become fluent in Spanish.

Take your Castilian to the next level. Click here to offset practicing with existent Spanish sentences!