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Ayer, el jefe pidió el grano congelado.

Ayer, el jefe pidió el grano congelado.
Yesterday, the boss ordered the frozen grain.
From Lesson 115:Regular past participles (-ado, -ido)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Ayer, el jefe pidió el grano congelado.

How do we form the word congelado?
Congelado is the past participle of the regular verb congelar (to freeze). To form the past participle for regular verbs ending in -ar, you drop the -ar ending and add -ado.
Why does congelado end in -o here?
In this sentence, the past participle congelado is being used as an adjective to describe el grano (the grain). When past participles act as adjectives, they must match the noun they describe in gender and number. Since grano is masculine and singular, we use congelado rather than congelada or congelados.
Why is the verb spelled pidió instead of pedió?
Pidió is the preterite (simple past) tense of pedir (to ask for / to order). This verb has a stem change. For -ir verbs in the preterite tense, the vowel in the stem often changes from e to i in the third-person forms (he, she, it, or you formal). That is why it becomes pidió.
Can I use ordenar instead of pedir to say 'ordered'?
Yes, you could say ordenó, but pedir is the most common and natural verb to use in Spanish when someone asks for a product, requests a service, or orders food.

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