Pidió

Pidió is the third-person singular form of the Spanish verb pedir in the pretérito indefinido (preterite). It translates as “he asked for,” “she asked for,” or, in appropriate contexts, “he ordered” or “she ordered” (for food or drinks in a restaurant). The form is also used in polite contexts with usted.

Conjugation in the pretérito indefinido (yo/ tú/ él, ella, usted / nosotros / vosotros / ellos, ellas, ustedes) is:

yo pedí, tú pediste, él/ella/usted pidió, nosotros pedimos, vosotros pedisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes pidieron. The stem changes from e to i in the third-person forms (pidió, pidieron), and an accent is placed on the í in pidió to indicate stress.

Usage notes:

- Pedir in the preterite expresses a completed action in the past. For ongoing or habitual past actions, otro tiempo verbal such as el imperfecto (pedía) is used.

- Pidió can take a direct object, for example: “Pidió ayuda” (He asked for help) or “Pidió la cuenta” (He asked for the bill).

- In a dining context, “pidió” is commonly used to say what someone ordered: “Ella pidió una ensalada” (She ordered a salad).

Etymology and related forms:

Pidió derives from pedir, from Latin petere, meaning to seek or ask. Related forms include pido (present), pidió (preterite, él/ella/usted), pidieron (preterite, ellos/ellas/ustedes), and the subjunctive and future forms derived from the same verb family.