Breakdown of Por bondad, el médico altruista pidió que diéramos todo cuanto pudiéramos.
poder
to be able to / can
pedir
to ask for / to order
dar
to give
que
that / than
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
todo
all / everything
el médico
the doctor (physician)
altruista
altruistic
cuanto
all that / as much as (relative) / the more/less (in proportional comparisons)
la bondad
kindness
Questions & Answers about Por bondad, el médico altruista pidió que diéramos todo cuanto pudiéramos.
Why use todo cuanto here instead of the more common todo lo que?
Why is pudiéramos in the subjunctive?
When todo cuanto refers to a specific, known amount in the past or present, it takes the indicative. However, here it refers to an unknown or hypothetical amount because the doctor didn't know how much the people would actually be able to give. This uncertainty triggers the subjunctive. It is in the imperfect (past) subjunctive because the main action (pidió) happened in the past.
What triggers the subjunctive in diéramos?
The verb pedir (pidió) is a verb of influence, meaning the doctor is asking someone else to do something. This always triggers the subjunctive in the following que clause. Because pidió is in the past tense, dar becomes the imperfect subjunctive diéramos.
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