chiedeste

Chiedeste is a form of the Italian verb chiedere, meaning to ask or request. It is not a standalone word with its own meaning, but one of the inflected endings of chiedere. In standard there are two common grammatical uses for the form chiedeste, both sharing the same spelling:

- Passato remoto, seconda persona plurale: voi chiedeste, meaning “you (plural) asked” in literary or formal narration. Example: Voi chiedeste informazioni al console. This tense is much less common in spoken Italian and more typical of written, historical, or regional literary contexts.

- Congiuntivo imperfetto, seconda persona plurale: che voi chiedeste, used in dependent clauses to express hypothetical, uncertain, or subordinate actions, often after verbs of saying, thinking, or after se-clauses. Example: Se voi chiedeste una spiegazione, verrebbe fornita.

Usage notes:

- In contemporary speech, the passato remoto forms are rarely used in everyday conversation and may be replaced by compound tenses (e.g., avete chiesto). The congiuntivo imperfetto forms, including chiedeste, remain common in formal writing and in literature.

- The form is regular for an -ere verb in the voi person, and its exact tense is disambiguated by context.

Etymology:

Chiedere derives from the Latin quaerere (to seek, to ask). The voi form chiedeste reflects standard Italian -ere verb conjugation patterns in both passato remoto and congiuntivo imperfetto, where context indicates which tense is intended.