Verb · stem change, e to i
pedir
to ask for, to order
The thing that catches people out
pedir is asking for a thing; preguntar is asking a question. In a restaurant, pedir is ordering: ¿ya pidieron?, have you ordered?
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | pido | |
| tú | pides | |
| él, ella, usted | pide | |
| nosotros | pedimos | |
| ellos, ustedes | piden | |
| vosotros, Spain only | pedís |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | pedí | |
| tú | pediste | |
| él, ella, usted | pidió | |
| nosotros | pedimos | |
| ellos, ustedes | pidieron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | pedisteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | pedía | |
| tú | pedías | |
| él, ella, usted | pedía | |
| nosotros | pedíamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | pedían | |
| vosotros, Spain only | pedíais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | pediré | |
| tú | pedirás | |
| él, ella, usted | pedirá | |
| nosotros | pediremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | pedirán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | pediréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he pedido | |
| tú | has pedido | |
| él, ella, usted | ha pedido | |
| nosotros | hemos pedido | |
| ellos, ustedes | han pedido | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis pedido |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | pidiendo | |
| participle | pedido | |
| command, to tú | pide | |
| command, to usted | pida |
In a sentence
voy a pedir una pizza
I am going to order a pizza
pedí la cuenta
I asked for the bill