pedir

Pedir is the verb you use to request, order, or ask for something — a coffee, a favour, a loan, mercy. It is the canonical example of the e→i stem-changing -ir verb: every time the stem vowel e is stressed in the present (yo pido, tú pides, él pide, ellos piden), it becomes i; in the third-person preterite (pidió, pidieron) and in the gerund (pidiendo), the e also shifts to i, even when unstressed. Across the entire present subjunctive, the i prevails as well (pida, pidas, pida, pidamos, pidáis, pidan). The morphology is consistent and predictable once you internalize the rule.

The harder part — and the source of constant errors among English speakers — is the distinction between pedir (to ask for / request) and preguntar (to ask a question, inquire). English collapses both into ask; Spanish keeps them strictly separate, and getting them confused produces sentences that sound very strange to a native ear. This page lays out the paradigm with the stem-change slots highlighted, then carefully separates pedir from preguntar and covers the high-frequency patterns pedir disculpas, pedir perdón, pedir prestado, pedir hora.

Non-finite forms

The gerund is pidiendo, not pediendo. This is the e→i shift applied across the gerund of every -ir stem-changer (sirviendo, repitiendo, siguiendo, vistiendo). The participle pedido, by contrast, is fully regular and also functions as a noun meaning an order (hacer un pedido — to place an order).

Indicative — simple tenses

Presente

Every form except nosotros/vosotros has the e→i shift. The rule is mechanical: the stem vowel changes when it is stressed, and in the present indicative it is stressed everywhere except in the nosotros/vosotros forms (where the stress falls on the ending). Hence pido, pides, pide, pedimos, pedís, piden — the so-called "shoe" or "boot" pattern.

Pretérito perfecto simple

The third-person forms take e→i even though the stem vowel isn't stressed: pidió (he/she asked), pidieron (they asked). This is the signature feature of -ir stem-changers in the preterite — and it sets them apart from -ar and -er stem-changers (like pensar or entender), which have no stem change in the preterite at all. The shift here is historical, not phonetic: it preserves a pattern that was phonetic at an earlier stage of the language.

Pretérito imperfecto

No stem change in the imperfect — the e→i shift never appears here. This is a general rule: the imperfect of stem-changing verbs is always built on the unmodified stem.

Futuro simple

No stem change in the future. Endings attach to the full infinitive pedir-, and the e in the stem stays put.

Condicional

Indicative — compound tenses

Pretérito perfecto compuesto

Pretérito pluscuamperfecto

Futuro compuesto

Condicional compuesto

Subjunctive — simple tenses

Presente de subjuntivo

The e→i shift applies to every single form of the present subjunctive, including nosotros and vosotros. This is the most striking difference from the present indicative, where nosotros pedimos / vosotros pedís keep the e. The reason: in -ir stem-changers, the subjunctive borrows the stem from the yo indicative (pido → pida-), and that stem-change propagates everywhere. Pedir is the verb most often used after the trigger pedir que + subjuntivo (to ask that someone do something), so this subjunctive comes up constantly.

Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra / -se)

The e→i shift applies throughout the imperfect subjunctive too, because both forms are built on the third-person preterite stem (pidieron → pidiera-). Wherever you see the imperfect subjunctive of pedir, the i will be there.

Subjunctive — compound tenses

Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo

Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo

Imperative

The only form without the stem change is the vosotros affirmative pedid — same logic as pedimos and pedís in the indicative, where stress falls on the ending and the stem stays unaltered. Everywhere else, e→i. In casual peninsular speech you'll sometimes hear the -d drop (pedir vosotros), but pedid is the standard prescriptive form.

Pedir vs preguntar: the all-important distinction

English ask covers two operations Spanish keeps strictly separate:

• Pedir — to request something (an object, a favour, an action). The thing you ask for is a noun or an infinitive.
• Preguntar — to inquire, to ask a question (information). The thing you ask is a question.

This split is the single most common source of error for English speakers using either verb. The fix is to identify what you're actually asking: an object or an action → pedir; information → preguntar.

High-frequency patterns with pedir

Pedir prestado deserves a special note: Spanish has no verb that means to borrow directly. To express borrowing, you literally say pedir prestado (ask-as-loan): te pedí prestado el coche (I borrowed your car). The matching idea of to lend is prestar.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Pedir is an e→i stem-changing -ir verb. The shift appears in: all present indicative forms except nosotros/vosotros; the third-person preterite (pidió, pidieron); the entire present subjunctive; the entire imperfect subjunctive; the gerund (pidiendo); and most imperative forms.
• There is no stem change in the imperfect, future, conditional, or in the nosotros/vosotros present indicative.
• Pedir is request something; preguntar is ask a question. English's single ask covers both — Spanish does not. Choose by what you're asking: object/action vs information.
• Pedir prestado is the Spanish way to say borrow — there is no single verb for it.
• Pedir que + subjuntivo is the standard way to ask someone to do something (te pido que vengas), not pedir para + infinitive.