Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): La profesora nos pide escribir una conclusión breve después de cada capítulo. - The teacher asks us to write a brief conclusion after each chapter.

La profesora nos pide escribir una conclusión breve después de cada capítulo.

The teacher asks us to write a brief conclusion after each chapter.

Breakdown of La profesora nos pide escribir una conclusión breve después de cada capítulo.

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Spanish grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Spanish now

Questions & Answers about La profesora nos pide escribir una conclusión breve después de cada capítulo.

Why does the sentence start with “La profesora” and not just “Profesora” or “La maestra”?

In Spanish, professions used as subjects usually take a definite article (el / la) when you refer to a specific known person.

La profesora = the (female) teacher (a specific teacher everyone in context already knows)
Profesora on its own is more like a form of address:
- Profesora, ¿puede ayudarme? = Professor/Teacher, can you help me?

As for maestra vs profesora in Latin America:

maestra is more common for elementary school teachers.
profesora is common for high school and university, but can also be used more broadly.

So La profesora fits the neutral “the teacher” better here, especially beyond elementary level.

What does “nos” mean in “La profesora nos pide escribir...”, and why is it placed before “pide”?

Nos is the indirect object pronoun for “us” in Spanish.

In this sentence:

La profesora = the subject (the one who asks)
nos = “to us”
pide = “asks/requests”

So La profesora nos pide... literally is:
“The teacher asks of us (requests us) [to do something].”

About the position:

With a conjugated verb like pide, object pronouns (me, te, le, nos, les, lo, la, etc.) normally go before the verb:
- La profesora nos pide...
- La profesora le pide...

You could only put nos after and attached to a non-conjugated form, like an infinitive or gerund:

La profesora está pidiéndonos escribir... (less natural here)
But in the original structure, nos must go before pide.

What is the verb form “pide” exactly? Which verb is it and which tense/person?

Pide comes from the verb pedir (to ask for / to request).

Infinitive: pedir
Present tense, indicative mood:
- yo pido
- tú pides
- él / ella / usted pide
- nosotros pedimos
- ustedes / ellos / ellas piden

In La profesora nos pide..., the subject is la profesora (she), so we use:

(ella) pide = she asks / she requests.

So pide is the 3rd person singular, present indicative of pedir.

Why is it “nos pide escribir” and not “nos pide que escribamos”? Are both correct?

Both structures are grammatically correct, but there’s a difference in formality and style.

Infinitive construction (very common, especially in instructions):
- La profesora nos pide escribir una conclusión breve...
- Literally: The teacher asks us to write a brief conclusion…
- Structure: pedir + indirect object + infinitive
Subordinate clause with subjunctive:
- La profesora nos pide que escribamos una conclusión breve...
- Literally: The teacher asks that we write a brief conclusion…
- Structure: pedir + que + subjunctive

Differences:

The infinitive version is:
- a bit shorter and very common in everyday speech
- especially frequent when giving instructions or describing rules.
The “que + subjunctive” version:
- can sound slightly more formal or explicit
- is the more “textbook” pattern after verbs of request: pedir que + subjunctive

In Latin American Spanish, you will see and hear both. In many contexts, they’re interchangeable here.

Why is it “escribir” (infinitive) and not “escribimos” or “escribamos”?

In Spanish, when one verb follows another and the first one expresses desire, necessity, obligation, plans, etc., the second verb often appears as an infinitive if there is no change of subject expressed in a clause with que.

Here we have:

Main verb: pide (asks/requests)
Second verb: escribir (to write)
Structure: pedir + pronoun + infinitive
→ pide nos escribir → correctly ordered as nos pide escribir

So escribir is used because:

It directly depends on pide.
There’s no que
- a new subject; the understood subject of escribir is we (nosotros), but grammatically it’s kept as an infinitive.

If you used “que”, then you’d switch to a subjunctive form:

La profesora nos pide que escribamos...

In “una conclusión breve”, why does “breve” come after “conclusión”? Can I say “una breve conclusión”?

By default, most adjectives in Spanish go after the noun:

una conclusión breve = a brief conclusion

However, some adjectives can go before or after the noun, with slight changes or nuances in meaning or emphasis. Breve is one of those flexible adjectives.

You can say:

una conclusión breve (neutral, very common)
una breve conclusión (also correct)

Nuance:

una conclusión breve: slightly more neutral, just “a conclusion that is brief.”
una breve conclusión: can sound a bit more stylistic or formal, and sometimes may emphasize the brevity more.

In everyday usage, both are fine, and the difference is minor in this sentence.

Why is it “después de cada capítulo” and not just “después cada capítulo”?

In Spanish, después on its own is an adverb meaning “later / afterwards.”
To say “after [something]”, you normally use:

después de + noun / infinitive

Examples:

después de la clase = after class
después de comer = after eating

So here:

después de cada capítulo = after each chapter

Without de, it would be ungrammatical in this structure:

❌ después cada capítulo
✅ después de cada capítulo

What is the role of “cada” in “cada capítulo”, and does it change form for gender or number?

Cada means “each” or “every” and has two important properties:

It is invariable:
- It does not change for gender:
  - cada capítulo (masculine)
  - cada página (feminine)
- It does not change for number:
  - cada capítulo (each/every chapter, singular in Spanish)
  - You do not say ❌cadas.
It is always followed by a singular noun:
- cada capítulo = each chapter
- cada estudiante = each student

So cada stays the same regardless of masculine/feminine or singular/plural meaning.

Is “capítulo” masculine or feminine, and how would I refer to it with an article?

Capítulo is a masculine noun.

Singular: el capítulo
Plural: los capítulos

Examples:

Este capítulo es difícil. = This chapter is difficult.
Leímos tres capítulos. = We read three chapters.

In the sentence with cada, you don’t see el because cada goes directly before the noun:

después de cada capítulo (not de cada el capítulo).

Can the word order of the sentence change? For example, can I move “después de cada capítulo” or “nos”?

Spanish word order is somewhat flexible, but there are rules.

The pronoun “nos” with a conjugated verb:
- Normal position: before the conjugated verb
  - La profesora nos pide escribir...
- You cannot move nos far away or after pide in this sentence:
  - ❌ La profesora pide nos escribir... (incorrect)
- The only other natural option would involve a different structure (e.g., with an infinitive or gerund attached), but not in this simple form.
“Después de cada capítulo” is more movable:
- La profesora nos pide escribir una conclusión breve después de cada capítulo.
- Después de cada capítulo, la profesora nos pide escribir una conclusión breve.
  (Changing the focus/emphasis a bit)
- La profesora, después de cada capítulo, nos pide escribir una conclusión breve.
  (more marked; adds a pause/focus)

All of these are grammatical; the original order is just the most straightforward.

What’s the difference between “pedir” and “preguntar”? Why is it “nos pide escribir” and not “nos pregunta escribir”?

Spanish distinguishes clearly between:

pedir = to ask for / to request (an action, a favor, an object)
preguntar = to ask (a question)

In your sentence:

The teacher is requesting that we write something (an action).
- → use pedir: La profesora nos pide escribir...

Examples with pedir:

Te pido un favor. = I ask you for a favor.
Nos piden llegar temprano. = They ask us to arrive early.

Examples with preguntar:

Te pregunto la hora. = I ask you the time.
Nos preguntan si entendemos. = They ask us if we understand.

❌ nos pregunta escribir is incorrect, because preguntar doesn’t take an infinitive like that to mean “ask (someone) to do something.” You must use pedir for that meaning.

Could I say “La profesora nos manda escribir una conclusión breve...” instead of “nos pide escribir”? What’s the difference?

Yes, grammatically you can say:

La profesora nos manda escribir una conclusión breve después de cada capítulo.

Difference in meaning/nuance:

pedir = to ask / to request
- More neutral, can be polite or just descriptive:
- The teacher asks us to do it (maybe it’s a requirement, but it sounds less forceful).
mandar = to order / to command / to send
- With this structure, it usually has a stronger sense of ordering or commanding.
- The teacher orders us to write it (sounds more like an instruction coming from authority).

In many real classrooms, the teacher is giving instructions/requirements, so manda can make sense, but pide sounds a bit softer and is more typical when just describing the requirement in a neutral way.

Could I use “corta” instead of “breve” for “short conclusion”? Is there a difference?

Both breve and corta can translate to “short,” but there’s a nuance:

breve is more about brevity in time/length of text, often a bit more formal or neutral in writing:
- una conclusión breve = a brief conclusion (few sentences, concise)
corta is the feminine form of corto, and can feel slightly more physical/size-related, though it can also apply to texts:
- una conclusión corta = a short conclusion

In many contexts, both are acceptable, but:

For school writing, “una conclusión breve” sounds more natural and closer to what teachers typically say or write in Spanish instructions.