Breakdown of El oficial pidió que el guardia aceptara el mandato.
pedir
to ask for / to order
que
that / than
el guardia
the guard
aceptar
to accept
Questions & Answers about El oficial pidió que el guardia aceptara el mandato.
Why do we use que el guardia aceptara instead of an infinitive like al guardia aceptar?
In English, we often report commands with an infinitive (asked the guard to accept). But in Spanish, when one person asks a different person to do something, you generally cannot use an infinitive. You must use que followed by a new clause with its own conjugated verb in the subjunctive.
Why is the imperfect subjunctive (aceptara) used here rather than the present subjunctive (acepte)?
The tense of the subjunctive verb needs to agree with the main reporting verb. Because the officer made the request in the past (pidió), the triggered subjunctive shifts into the past (imperfect) subjunctive (aceptara). If the request were happening now (El oficial pide...), you would use the present subjunctive (acepte).
Could I use preguntó here instead of pidió?
Would it be correct to say aceptase instead of aceptara?
Yes, aceptase is grammatically correct and means the exact same thing. Both are valid forms of the imperfect subjunctive. However, the -ra endings (like aceptara) are far more common in everyday spoken Spanish throughout Latin America.