
Pedir - To order
In Spanish, you use pedir when you need something from someone else. Its most common meanings are "to ask" in phrases like pedir ayuda (to ask for help) and "to order", in phrases like pedí dos libros a Amazon (order two books from Amazon).
Depending on the context, it can take on other similar meanings like "to beg" (había gente pidiendo en la calle - there were people begging on the street) and "to pray" (pido por todos los damnificados por el huracán - I pray for all those affected by the hurricane).
Conjugations
Although pedir is irregular, its conjugation is still quite predictable. You just need to look out for some changes in its stem, which can go from ped- to pid- as you will see in the examples below.
Present
Yo |
pido |
Nosotros/Nosotras |
pedimos |
Tú (Vos) |
pides (pedís) |
Vosotros/Vosotras |
pedís |
Él/Ella/Usted |
pide |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes |
piden |
Examples:
- Pido por mis amigos. - I pray for my friends.
- Mis alumnos siempre piden más ejemplos. - My students always ask for more examples.
Imperfect
Yo |
pedía |
Nosotros/Nosotras |
pedíamos |
Tú/Vos |
pedías |
Vosotros/Vosotras |
pedíais |
Él/Ella/Usted |
pedía |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes |
pedían |
Examples:
- Para Navidad, mi hermana siempre pedía muñecas. - My sister always asked for dolls on Christmas.
- Siempre le pedíamos a mi madre que nos llevara al parque. - We always asked our mother to take us to the park.
Preterite
Yo |
pedí |
Nosotros/Nosotras |
pedimos |
Tú/Vos |
pediste |
Vosotros/Vosotras |
pedisteis |
Él/Ella/Usted |
pidió |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes |
pidieron |
Examples:
- ¿Ya pediste la comida? - Did you already order the food?
- Los vecinos nos pidieron que bajemos la música. - The neighbors asked us to turn the music down.
Future
Yo |
pediré |
Nosotros/Nosotras |
pediremos |
Tú/Vos |
pedirás |
Vosotros/Vosotras |
pediréis |
Él/Ella/Usted |
pedirá |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes |
pedirán |
Examples:
- Pediré por tu familia. - I will pray for your family
- Verónica les pedirá que vengan. - Verónica will ask them to come.
Conditional
Yo |
pediría |
Nosotros/Nosotras |
pediríamos |
Tú/Vos |
pedirías |
Vosotros/Vosotras |
pediríais |
Él/Ella/Usted |
pediría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes |
pedirían |
Examples:
- No te lo pediría si no fuese necesario. - I wouldn't be asking this if it weren't necessary.
- Luciano dijo que pediría una cerveza. - Luciano said he would order a beer.
Can you think of other phrases where you might use this verb? Practice them along with the examples above to learn how to conjugate this useful Spanish verb.