Breakdown of El juez había justificado la prohibición, y pidió que nos obligaran a pagar.
y
and
a
to
pagar
to pay
pedir
to ask for / to order
que
that / than
nos
to us
haber
(auxiliary) have
el juez
the judge
justificar
to justify
obligar
to force / to oblige (compel)
la prohibición
the ban / the prohibition
Questions & Answers about El juez había justificado la prohibición, y pidió que nos obligaran a pagar.
Why is obligaran in the imperfect subjunctive?
The first clause uses pidió (asked/requested), which expresses influence or a command. When reporting a past command or request with que, the following verb must be in the imperfect subjunctive.
Where does the 'them' in the English translation come from?
Why do we need the word a before pagar?
The verb obligar (to force) requires the preposition a when followed by an infinitive. It follows the formula obligar a alguien a hacer algo (to force someone to do something).
Could we attach the pronoun nos to the end of pagar, like obligaran a pagarnos?
No, because it would change the meaning entirely. Here, nos is the direct object of obligaran (they force us). If you wrote obligaran a pagarnos, it would mean they are forcing someone else to pay us! Pronouns only attach to infinitives if they are the logical object of that specific infinitive.
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