Yo le sugerí a mi hermana que consultara la fecha antes de enviar la solicitud.

Yes. In Spanish, the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is. Sugerí already means I suggested, so Yo is not strictly necessary.

Here, Yo may be included for one of these reasons:

• emphasis: I suggested it
• contrast: I suggested it, not someone else
• simply to make the subject extra clear

A very natural version is also:

• Le sugerí a mi hermana que consultara la fecha antes de enviar la solicitud.

Both are correct.

Le is an indirect object pronoun. In this sentence, it means to her.

So:

• Le sugerí... = I suggested to her...

The full sentence also says a mi hermana, which tells you exactly who le refers to.

This is a very common Spanish pattern called clitic doubling.

Spanish often uses:

• an indirect object pronoun (le)
• plus the full noun phrase (a mi hermana)

So:

• Le sugerí a mi hermana...

This is normal and very natural Spanish. In English, using both would sound repetitive, but in Spanish it often sounds better and is sometimes practically expected.

Because le is an indirect object pronoun, while la is usually a direct object pronoun.

In this sentence, the sister is the person to whom the suggestion was made, not the thing directly suggested.

• Le sugerí... = I suggested to her...

Compare:

• La vi. = I saw her.
  Here her is the direct object, so Spanish uses la.

So the choice is about grammatical function, not just gender.

Sugerí is the preterite of sugerir, and it shows a completed action in the past:

• I suggested

The speaker is referring to one finished act of suggesting. That is why the preterite fits well.

If the sentence were describing a repeated action or background situation, another tense might be used, but here the most natural reading is one completed past event.

Because after a verb like sugerir in the past, Spanish normally uses the imperfect subjunctive in the subordinate clause.

Structure:

• sugerí que + imperfect subjunctive

So:

• Yo le sugerí a mi hermana que consultara...

This is used because the speaker is expressing a suggestion, not stating a fact.

Compare:

• Le sugerí que consultara la fecha. = I suggested that she check the date.

If you used consultó, that would mean she checked, which states a completed fact rather than the content of the suggestion.

Because sugerir often expresses:

• suggestion
• recommendation
• influence
• advice

These kinds of verbs commonly trigger the subjunctive in Spanish when one person is trying to influence another person’s action.

A useful pattern to remember is:

• aconsejar que
• sugerir que
• recomendar que
• proponer que

These are often followed by the subjunctive.

Examples:

• Te recomiendo que descanses.
• Le sugerí que consultara la fecha.

Yes. Both are correct forms of the imperfect subjunctive:

• consultara
• consultase

In modern Spanish, especially in everyday use, -ra forms are generally more common:

• que consultara

The -se form is also correct and may sound:

• a bit more formal
• a bit more literary
• sometimes just a matter of regional or personal preference

So this would also be correct:

• Yo le sugerí a mi hermana que consultase la fecha antes de enviar la solicitud.

Because que introduces the subordinate clause that contains the content of the suggestion.

So the structure is:

• sugerirle a alguien que + subjunctive

In this sentence:

• Le sugerí a mi hermana que consultara la fecha...

That means:

• I suggested to my sister that she check the date...

This is a very common Spanish pattern.

That a is used because mi hermana is the person receiving the suggestion. With people, Spanish often uses a in these kinds of constructions.

Here it is part of the indirect object phrase:

• le sugerí a mi hermana

It helps identify to whom the suggestion was made.

Because antes de + infinitive is the normal structure when Spanish uses an infinitive after before.

So:

• antes de enviar la solicitud = before sending the application

This structure is especially common when the subject is the same as the one understood in the main subordinate clause, or when the subject does not need to be stated explicitly.

If you want to state a subject more explicitly in a full clause, you can use:

• antes de que + subjunctive

For example:

• ...que consultara la fecha antes de que enviara la solicitud
• ...que consultara la fecha antes de que ella enviara la solicitud

That is possible too, but antes de enviar is more compact and very natural here.

The understood subject of enviar is most naturally mi hermana.

So the sentence is understood as:

• I suggested to my sister that she check the date before she sent the application.

Spanish often leaves the subject of an infinitive unstated when it is clear from context.

Yes. La fecha literally means the date.

In this sentence, it means checking the relevant date connected with the application process, for example:

• a deadline
• a submission date
• an appointment date

Spanish often uses consultar la fecha in the sense of checking the date or looking up the date.

La solicitud usually means:

• the application
• the request
• the form/request document

The exact translation depends on context. In a context like deadlines and sending paperwork, application is often the most natural English equivalent.

Yes, to some extent. Spanish word order is more flexible than English word order, though some versions sound more natural than others.

For example, these are possible:

• Le sugerí a mi hermana que consultara la fecha antes de enviar la solicitud.
• A mi hermana le sugerí que consultara la fecha antes de enviar la solicitud.

The second version puts more emphasis on a mi hermana.

But the original order is very natural and neutral.

Yes, if it is already clear who le refers to.

That version means:

• I suggested to her that she check the date before sending the application.

Spanish often uses just the pronoun when the person is already understood from context. Adding a mi hermana makes the reference explicit.