pedíamos

Pedíamos is the first-person plural imperfect tense of the Spanish verb pedir, meaning to ask for or to request. It expresses an action in the past that was ongoing, habitual, or not presented as a single completed event. This form is common in both Spain and Latin American varieties of Spanish.

Morphology: Pedíamos is formed from the stem ped- plus the imperfect endings for -ir verbs: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. Thus pedíamos corresponds to “we were asking for” or “we used to ask for.” The acute accent on í marks the stressed syllable.

Usage notes: Pedíamos is contrasted with the preterite pedimos, which denotes a completed past action. The imperfect form is typical in descriptive narration, background information, or when the action was habitual or ongoing within a past period. It can be used with objects, privileges, time, forgiveness, or politeness/indirect requests, especially in reported speech or when narrating customary behavior.

Etymology and related forms: Pedir derives from Latin petere, meaning “to seek” or “to beg.” Related forms in other tenses include pido, pides, pide, pedimos, pedís, piden, and the imperfect pedía, pedías, pedía, pedíamos, pedíais, pedían.

Examples:

- Cuando éramos jóvenes, pedíamos más tiempo para terminar los proyectos. (When we were young, we used to ask for more time to finish the projects.)

- En la carta, pedíamos disculpas por los retrasos. (In the letter, we asked for apologies for the delays.)

- Los vecinos pedían ayuda cada vez que había una emergencia. (The neighbors would ask for help whenever there was an emergency.)