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A médica pediu para esperarmos na sala de espera.

A médica pediu para esperarmos na sala de espera.
The doctor asked us to wait in the waiting room.
FromLesson 38inHardcore Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of A médica pediu para esperarmos na sala de espera.

em
in
para
to
esperar
to wait
pedir
to ask
a médica
the doctor
a sala de espera
the waiting room

Questions & Answers about A médica pediu para esperarmos na sala de espera.

Why is it a médica (feminine) and not o médico?
Because the sentence refers to a female doctor. Many profession nouns in Portuguese have masculine/feminine pairs: o médico / a médica. The definite article matches the gender and number of the noun: o (masc. sing.), a (fem. sing.), os, as. Example: A médica falou. O médico falou.
Could I say A doutora instead of A médica?
Yes. In Portugal, o/a doutor(a) is a very common polite form of address for doctors (and some other professionals). So A doutora pediu… is perfectly natural in everyday EP. Using a médica emphasizes the profession; a doutora is a courtesy title.
Why pediu and not perguntou?

In Portuguese, pedir means to request (ask someone to do something). Perguntar means to ask a question (seek information). Here, the doctor made a request, so pediu is correct. Compare:

  • Ela pediu para fechar a porta. (She asked [someone] to close the door.)
  • Ela perguntou a que horas fecham. (She asked what time they close.)
Why is it pediu para and not pediu a?
  • pedir a alguém marks the person you ask: pediu à enfermeira (she asked the nurse).
  • pedir para + infinitive introduces what you want done: pediu para esperarmos (asked us to wait). You can combine both: A médica pediu-nos para esperarmos.
What is the -mos ending in esperarmos?

That’s the personal (inflected) infinitive. Portuguese can inflect the infinitive to show who is supposed to do the action:

  • eu: esperar
  • tu: esperares
  • ele/ela/você: esperar
  • nós: esperarmos
  • vocês/eles/elas: esperarem So esperarmos means “for us to wait.”
Could I just say pediu para esperar without -mos?
Grammatically, yes, but it can be ambiguous (it might look like the doctor asked herself to wait). The inflected infinitive (esperarmos) makes it clear that the subject is we/us. If you include an object pronoun with pedir, the non‑inflected infinitive is common and unambiguous: A médica pediu-nos para esperar.
Is esperarmos here the future subjunctive?
No. It’s the inflected infinitive after para. The form esperarmos happens to be identical to the future subjunctive 1st‑person plural, but after para you use the infinitive (inflected or not), not the future subjunctive. Future subjunctive appears after words like quando, se: Quando esperarmos, entraremos.
Can I use a que + subjunctive alternative?

Yes: A médica pediu que esperássemos na sala de espera. This uses the past (imperfect) subjunctive esperássemos. In EP, both patterns are fine:

  • pedir para + infinitive (inflected): common, natural.
  • pedir que + subjunctive: a bit more formal or careful.
How would I say it with different people (me/you/them)?

Common EP options:

  • Me: A médica pediu-me para esperar. / A médica pediu para eu esperar.
  • You (sing. informal, tu): A médica pediu-te para esperares.
  • Him/Her: A médica pediu-lhe para esperar.
  • Us: A médica pediu-nos para esperarmos.
  • Them/You (plural vocês): A médica pediu-lhes/…-vos para esperarem.
Where does the pronoun nos go in EP?
In neutral affirmative main clauses, EP prefers enclisis (after the verb): A médica pediu-nos… With negation or other proclisis triggers, it comes before: A médica não nos pediu…; Quem nos pediu…? In your sentence, a natural full version is A médica pediu-nos para esperarmos…
Why na sala de espera and not em a sala de espera?
Portuguese contracts prepositions with articles: em + a = na, em + o = no. Since sala is feminine, it’s na. So: na sala de espera = “in the waiting room.”
Why de espera and not da espera?
Many compound nouns use de + noun without an article to indicate function or type: sala de espera (waiting room), sala de jantar (dining room). da would mean “of the wait,” pointing to a specific wait, which isn’t the intended compound meaning.
Is esperar-mos ever correct?
No. -mos is a verb ending, not a pronoun, so there’s no hyphen. You only hyphenate clitic pronouns with infinitives, e.g., esperar-nos (to wait for us).
What’s the difference between pediu, pedia, and tinha pedido here?
  • pediu (preterite): a completed request in the past (most common here).
  • pedia (imperfect): ongoing/habitual past (She was asking/used to ask).
  • tinha pedido (past perfect): “had asked” before another past moment.
Any quick pronunciation tips (European Portuguese)?
  • Initial s in esperarmos sounds like “sh”: roughly “shpe-”.
  • Unstressed e often reduces: pediu ≈ “p’DIU”, esperarmos ≈ “shp’RAR-moosh”.
  • Final s in EP is often “sh”: esperarmos ≈ “-moosh”.
  • médica has stress on mé: “MEH-dih-kɐ”.
Do I need para, or can I drop it?

With pedir, you need either para + infinitive or que + subjunctive. You can’t say pediu esperarmos. Use either:

  • A médica pediu para esperarmos…
  • A médica pediu que esperássemos…
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