Pido un préstamo al banco.

I ask for a loan from the bank.

Breakdown of Pido un préstamo al banco.

• yo: I
• a: to
• un: a
• pedir: to ask for

Questions & Answers about Pido un préstamo al banco.

What is the verb pedir and what does pido mean in this sentence?

Pedir is an irregular –ir verb meaning “to ask for” or “to request” something. Pido is the first-person singular (yo) form in the present indicative: “I ask for” or “I request.”

Why don’t we say yo pido?

In Spanish, subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already indicates who’s performing the action. Pido implies yo (“I”) without needing to say it. You could say Yo pido un préstamo al banco for emphasis, but it’s not necessary.

What does un préstamo mean, and why use un?

Préstamo is a masculine noun meaning “loan.” You use the indefinite article un because you’re referring to any loan in general, not a specific one. If you meant a particular loan already mentioned, you’d use el préstamo instead.

Why is it al banco instead of a el banco?

In Spanish, al is the contraction of a + el. So al banco literally means “to the bank.” You always contract a + el into al before a masculine singular noun.

Can we include an indirect object pronoun like le in this sentence?