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Él rechazó mi indicación y la del subordinado, y pidió que empezáramos otra vez.

Él rechazó mi indicación y la del subordinado, y pidió que empezáramos otra vez.
He rejected my instruction and that of the subordinate, and asked that we start over.
From Lesson 332:Past reported commands (pidió que, dijo que)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Él rechazó mi indicación y la del subordinado, y pidió que empezáramos otra vez.

Why do we use the imperfect subjunctive empezáramos instead of the present subjunctive?
This sentence is using past reported speech for a request. Because the main verb pidió is in the past tense (he asked), the requested action must also shift to the past, requiring the imperfect subjunctive instead of the present subjunctive.
What does la mean in the phrase la del subordinado?
It acts as a pronoun meaning "that", replacing the noun indicación so we don't have to say it twice. The whole phrase la del (short for la de el) means "that of the" or simply "the subordinate's".
Why does empezáramos have an accent on the a?
In the imperfect subjunctive, the nosotros form always requires an accent mark on the vowel right before the -ramos ending. This ensures the spoken stress stays on the correct syllable.
Why is it pidió and not pedió?
The verb pedir (to ask for or to request) is a stem-changing verb in the preterite tense. In the third-person forms (like he, she, or they), the e in the stem changes to an i.

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