El camarero nos preguntó si queríamos otra tapa, pero yo solo pedí agua.

Nos means us.

So El camarero nos preguntó literally means The waiter asked us.

In Spanish, unstressed object pronouns like me, te, nos, lo, la usually go before a conjugated verb:

• nos preguntó = asked us
• me dijo = told me
• te llamó = called you

So preguntó nos would be incorrect.

Yes, here si means if / whether in the sense of an indirect yes-no question.

• Nos preguntó si queríamos otra tapa = He asked us if / whether we wanted another tapa

This is different from sí with an accent, which means yes.

So:

• si = if / whether
• sí = yes

Because queríamos is the imperfect, and it sounds more natural here when talking about what we wanted at that moment.

The waiter asked about an ongoing situation: did we want another tapa?

• queríamos = we wanted / were wanting
• quisimos = we wanted in a completed sense, and with querer the preterite can sometimes suggest tried to or came to want

So in this sentence, si queríamos otra tapa is the normal choice.

Because they describe completed actions in the past:

• preguntó = he asked
• pedí = I ordered / asked for

The sentence tells a sequence of finished events:

1. the waiter asked
2. I ordered water

That is exactly the kind of situation where Spanish often uses the preterite.

Yes. In restaurant Spanish, pedir is very commonly used for to order.

Literally, pedir means to ask for, but in context:

• pedí agua = I ordered water
• pedimos una ración = we ordered a portion
• ¿Qué vais a pedir? = What are you going to order?

In Spain, pedir is much more natural in this context than ordenar.

Spanish often does drop subject pronouns, so pedí agua would already be correct.

But yo is included here for contrast or emphasis:

• ..., pero yo solo pedí agua
  = ..., but I only ordered water

It suggests a contrast with what other people may have done or wanted.

So yo is not required, but it adds a slight but as for me... feeling.

Because otro / otra already works as a determiner meaning another or one more.

So you say:

• otra tapa = another tapa
• otro café = another coffee

Not:

• una otra tapa ❌

If you said la otra tapa, that would mean the other tapa, referring to a specific one.

In Spanish, when talking about food or drink in a general way, it is very common to use no article:

• pedí agua = I ordered water
• tomé café = I had coffee
• compré pan = I bought bread

This is especially normal with uncountable nouns like agua.

You might hear:

• un agua in some contexts, meaning something like a bottle/glass of water
• el agua when referring to specific water

But in this sentence, pedí agua is the most natural wording.

Modern standard Spanish normally writes solo without an accent, even when it means only.

So here:

• solo pedí agua = I only ordered water

Older spelling often used sólo for the adverb only, to distinguish it from solo = alone. Nowadays, the accent is usually not written unless someone feels there is real ambiguity.

So this spelling is standard.

A tapa is a small Spanish dish or snack, often served with a drink or ordered to share.

In Spain, tapas can be things like:

• olives
• tortilla
• croquetas
• patatas bravas
• a small portion of meat or seafood

It is a very common cultural word, so Spanish learners often see it left untranslated.

Also, tapa is feminine, which is why the sentence says otra tapa.

Yes. In Spain, camarero is the normal word for waiter.

• el camarero = the waiter
• la camarera = the waitress

In some parts of Latin America, learners may hear mesero instead. But for Spanish from Spain, camarero is the standard everyday word.

They mainly show where the stress falls and help distinguish verb forms.

• preguntó = stress on the last syllable
  This is the third-person singular preterite: he/she asked

• pedí = stress on the last syllable
  This is the first-person singular preterite: I ordered / asked for

• queríamos = stress on -í-
  This is the imperfect: we wanted

These accent marks are important because they help identify the correct tense and person.