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El director pidió que grabáramos la escena.

El director pidió que grabáramos la escena.
The director asked that we film the scene.
From Lesson 191:Reported commands (pidió que...)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El director pidió que grabáramos la escena.

Why is grabáramos in the imperfect subjunctive instead of the present subjunctive?
The main verb, pidió (asked), is in the past tense. When you report a command or request that happened in the past, the second verb must "agree" with that past timeline. Because of this, we must shift from the present subjunctive to the past (imperfect) subjunctive.
Why does grabáramos have an accent mark on the second "a"?
In the imperfect subjunctive, the nosotros form always requires a written accent mark on the vowel immediately before the -ramos ending. This ensures the word keeps its spoken stress on the correct syllable (gra-bá-ra-mos).
Why is "asked" translated using pidió (from pedir) instead of a form of preguntar?
In Spanish, pedir is used when you are making a request or telling someone to do something (asking for something or an action). Preguntar is only used when you are asking a question to get information. Since the director is requesting an action, pidió is the right choice.
Why isn't there an indirect object pronoun like nos before pidió?
You absolutely could say El director nos pidió que grabáramos... (The director asked us to film...). However, it isn't strictly required in Spanish. Because the verb grabáramos is conjugated in the nosotros (we) form, it is already perfectly clear who is being asked to do the filming.

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