Breakdown of Pede-lhe para ela trazer o colete verde.
ela
she
para
to / for
trazer
to bring
lhe
to him / to her / to you (formal)
verde
green
pedir
to ask for
o colete
the vest
Questions & Answers about Pede-lhe para ela trazer o colete verde.
Why do we use para ela trazer instead of the subjunctive que ela traga?
Both are correct ways to report a command or request in Portuguese. You can say Pede-lhe que traga (using the present subjunctive) or Pede-lhe para ela trazer (using para plus the personal infinitive). The personal infinitive structure is very common in everyday spoken Portuguese because it allows speakers to avoid using the subjunctive conjugations.
Why do we have both lhe and ela in the same sentence if they refer to the same person?
They serve different grammatical roles. The lhe is the indirect object of the main verb pedir (you are giving the request to her). The ela is the explicit subject of the personal infinitive trazer (she is the one doing the bringing). While you could sometimes drop ela if the context is obvious, keeping it is standard here to make it crystal clear who is supposed to bring the vest.
The word trazer looks just like the normal, un-conjugated infinitive. How do we know it's the personal infinitive?
The regular infinitive and the 1st and 3rd person singular forms of the personal infinitive always look identical. We know it acts as the personal infinitive here because it has its own distinct subject (ela) that is different from the person giving the command. If the sentence was asking them to bring the vest, you would see the verb change to match: para eles trazerem.
Is Pede-lhe a command here, or does it mean 'he/she asks'?
Because the English translation is 'Ask her...', we know Pede is acting as the informal tu imperative (command) form. Without the English translation, Pede-lhe could technically also be the present tense 'He/she asks her', but context usually makes the difference obvious. If you were giving this command formally to a você, it would change to Peça-lhe.
Learn Pede-lhe para ela trazer o colete verde and more in Portuguese
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free