pedía

Pedía is the imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb pedir, meaning to ask for or to request. It expresses an ongoing or repeated action in the past, or a background situation, rather than a single completed event.

Conjugation in the imperfect: yo pedía, tú pedías, él/ella/usted pedía, nosotros pedíamos, vosotros pedíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes pedían.

Usage and nuance: Pedía is used to describe requests that occurred over a period of time, habitual asking, or actions in the past that set a scene. It contrasts with the preterite pidió, which denotes a specific, completed request: for example, "Él pidió ayuda" (he asked for help) versus "Él pedía ayuda" (he was asking for help / he used to ask for help). It can appear in indirect speech or narration to convey a past context.

Examples: "Ella pedía ayuda" (She was asking for help), "Cuando era niño, él pedía permiso para ir al patio" (When he was a child, he used to ask for permission to go outside).

Etymology and related forms: Pedir derives from a Latin root related to demanding or seeking. The imperfect form pedía preserves the stem ped- with the standard imperfect endings, including the accent on the í. The word is widely used in everyday Spanish to describe past requests that were ongoing or repeated rather than isolated events.