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El profesor nos pidió que estudiáramos la normativa, pero era demasiado rígido.

El profesor nos pidió que estudiáramos la normativa, pero era demasiado rígido.
The professor asked us to study the regulations, but he was too strict.
From Lesson 330:Past reported commands (pidió que, dijo que)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El profesor nos pidió que estudiáramos la normativa, pero era demasiado rígido.

Why is estudiáramos in the past subjunctive here?
When reporting a command, request, or advice that happened in the past, the action being requested must be in the past subjunctive. The main verb pidió (he asked/requested) expresses influence and is in the past tense, which forces the verb in the que clause to take the past subjunctive form estudiáramos.
Why does estudiáramos have an accent mark?
In Spanish, the nosotros form of the past (imperfect) subjunctive always carries an accent mark on the vowel immediately preceding the -ramos ending. This keeps the spoken stress on the correct syllable (es-tu-DIÁ-ra-mos).
Could I just use the infinitive and say nos pidió estudiar?
Yes, with verbs of influence like pedir, permitir, or prohibir, you can use the infinitive if you include an indirect object pronoun like nos. Both nos pidió estudiar and nos pidió que estudiáramos are grammatically correct, though the que + subjunctive structure is very common in everyday speech for reporting past commands.
Why use era instead of fue for 'he was too strict'?
We use the imperfect tense era because it describes his ongoing characteristic or state at that time in the past. If you used the preterite fue, it would sound like his strictness was a single, completed event rather than his general personality or continuous behavior during the course.
Why use la normativa (singular) instead of plural rules?
La normativa is a common collective noun in Spanish that refers to a whole body of rules, guidelines, or legislation as a single unit. You can use plural words like las reglas or las normas, but la normativa sounds more formal and is the natural choice for academic or institutional regulations.

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