Pedir (To Ask For/Request) — Full Conjugation

Pedir is one of Portuguese's most socially important verbs. You will use it every time you order in a restaurant, apologize, ask a favour, borrow money, or request information. It means to ask for or to request — and, crucially, it is not the same verb as perguntar (to ask a question). English lumps both under to ask; Portuguese splits them cleanly.

Conjugation-wise, pedir belongs to a small but important family of -ir verbs that undergo an e → i stem change in the 1sg present and across the entire present subjunctive. The pattern is:

• peço, pedes, pede, pedimos, pedem (present) — the e becomes i only in peço
• peça, peças, peça, peçamos, peçam (subjunctive) — the e becomes i throughout

This pattern reappears in medir, despedir(-se), impedir — all of them historical derivatives of pedir. Learn one, you know them all.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

The e → i change shows up only in peço. All other forms keep the e. Also note the cedilla on peço: without it, the c before o would be pronounced /k/.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

All regular here — the stem change does not apply.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Fully regular — no stem change in the preterite.

As with all -ir verbs, the 1pl pedimos is identical in the present and preterite. Context disambiguates.

Pluperfect indicative, simple — pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples

Pluperfect indicative, compound — pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Here the e → i change applies in every form, and the cedilla is present in every form too. This is the most distinctive part of the paradigm.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

No stem change — back to the regular pattern, based on the preterite stem pedi-.

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Imperative — imperativo

The tu affirmative is pede — built from the present pedes, which preserves the e. But every other form, affirmative and negative, uses the subjunctive stem peç-.

Affirmative:

Negative:

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Pedir vs perguntar

English uses to ask for both actions, but Portuguese keeps them separate:

• pedir = to ask for (something) / request (an object, a favour, a service)
• perguntar = to ask a question (seek information)

A rough test: if you can substitute request in English, use pedir. If you can substitute pose the question, use perguntar. I asked him for a pen = pedir. I asked him what his name was = perguntar.

Syntax: who, what, to whom

Pedir takes both a direct object (what you ask for) and an indirect object marked with a (the person you ask). The order can go either way.

Note the preposition: you ask a someone, not de someone. The construction pedir algo *de alguém* is a common Spanish-interference error.

Pedir para vs pedir que

Two patterns that differ in subtlety:

pedir para + infinitive

Used when the subject of the main verb is the one who will perform the requested action. That is, you ask to be allowed to do something yourself.

pedir que + subjunctive

Used when you ask someone else to do something. The subjunctive is required because the action is desired, not asserted.

Colloquially, pedir para + infinitive is also used with a different subject (pedi para ele ficar), but the strictly correct construction is pedir que + subjunctive when the subjects differ.

Useful fixed expressions

• pedir desculpa — to apologize (literally to ask for pardon)
• pedir emprestado — to borrow (literally to ask for on loan)
• pedir a mão (em casamento) — to propose (ask for someone's hand)
• pedir boleia — to hitchhike, to ask for a ride
• pedir a palavra — to ask to speak (in a meeting)
• pedir uma bebida / um café — to order a drink / a coffee
• pedir conta — to ask for the bill (restaurant)
• pedir demissão — to resign (literally to ask for dismissal)

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Pedir has an e → i stem change in 1sg present (peço) and throughout the present subjunctive (peça, peças, peça, peçamos, peçam). The c → ç spelling follows in those same forms.
• Pedir = to ask for / request. Perguntar = to ask a question. English collapses them; Portuguese does not.
• Syntax: pedir algo a alguém — you ask something to/from someone. Never pedir de alguém.
• Pedir para + infinitive when you're the one doing the requested action; pedir que + subjunctive when someone else is.
• Fixed expressions are productive and common: pedir desculpa, pedir emprestado, pedir a palavra, pedir a conta, pedir demissão.
• The tu affirmative imperative is pede (from the regular present), but the negative flips to the subjunctive: não peças.
• The verbs medir, despedir(-se), impedir follow the same pattern.