To ask someone to do something in Spanish, we normally use the verb pedir (to ask in this context). This is how it works if we express it in El Pretérito Imperfecto, El Pretérito Indefinido or El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto:
Notice how in English what is asked is expressed with an infinitive:
"The thief asked me to give him all my money"
while in Spanish we use El Imperfecto Subjuntivo, after "que":
"El ladrón me pidió que le diera/diese todo mi dinero."
The verb in El Imperfecto Subjuntivo after que will be conjugated in the person who is asked, in this case "I" (The thief asked me...)
Careful: You cannot omit "que"
With "pedir" you will generally find an indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les) in this type of sentence as one normally asks "someone" to do something, e.g "me pidió que...", "les había pedido que..." or an indirect object always using "a", e.g "Ella pedía a su hermano que...", "yo nunca pedí a Antonio que...". In English there is no need to use a preposition: "He asked Laura..." but in Spanish you do need "a": "Le pidió a Laura que...".
Be careful not to use the verb "preguntar" (to ask) in this context. You cannot say: "Mi novio me preguntó que fuera/fuese paciente con él."
Here are other examples:
Remember:
Pedir (in most past tenses) + [a alguien] + que + verb in El Imperfecto de Subjuntivo
See also Pedir followed by El Presente de Subjuntivo to ask someone to do something
Also remember that in Spanish there are two possible conjugations for El Imperfecto Subjuntivo. To revise this see Conjugate verbs in the imperfect subjunctive tense in Spanish (El Imperfecto de Subjuntivo)
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Examples and resources
De pequeña, yo siempre pedía a mis padres que me dejaran ver la tele hasta tarde.When I was little, I always used to ask my parents to let me watch TV until late.
Yo antes nunca te pedía que me ayudaras, pero ahora te necesito.I never used to ask you to help me, but I need you now.
