Learn Portuguese (Portugal): A quem pediste ajuda?

A quem pediste ajuda?

Who did you ask for help?

Breakdown of A quem pediste ajuda?

Questions & Answers about A quem pediste ajuda?

Why does the sentence start with "A"?

The verb pedir (to ask) uses the preposition a to indicate who you are asking. In Portuguese, you don't just "ask someone", you "ask to someone". So, A quem literally translates to "To whom".

Where is the word for "for" in this sentence?

The verb pedir inherently means "to ask for" when you are requesting an object, an action, or a favor. Because of this, you don't need to add an extra preposition for "for" before ajuda (help).

How do we know this means "did you ask" if the word "tu" isn't there?

The verb pediste is the past tense (Pretérito Perfeito) of pedir. The ending -iste specifically belongs to the informal "you" (tu). In Portuguese, the pronoun is usually dropped because the verb ending already makes it completely clear who did the action.

Could I use "perguntar" instead of "pedir" here?

No. While both translate to "to ask" in English, pedir is used when you are requesting an action, an object, or a favor (like asking for help). Perguntar is only used when you are asking a question to get information or an answer.