Breakdown of Le pedimos al herrero que fundiera el hierro.
a
to
que
that (relative pronoun, conjunction)
le
to him / to her / to you (formal) / him (direct object, male person)
pedir
to ask for; to order (food or drink)
el herrero
the blacksmith
fundir
to melt
el hierro
the iron
Questions & Answers about Le pedimos al herrero que fundiera el hierro.
Why do we use the imperfect subjunctive fundiera here instead of the infinitive fundir?
In English, we use the infinitive for this: we asked him to melt. But in Spanish, when you ask or tell someone else to do an action, you use que plus the subjunctive. Because the reporting verb pedimos (we asked) is in the past tense, the original command shifts into the past (imperfect) subjunctive: fundiera.
Since pedimos is the nosotros form for both the present and the past tense, how do we know this is past tense?
The biggest clue is the second verb, fundiera. Because it is in the imperfect (past) subjunctive, it forces the main verb to be understood as past tense. If the sentence were in the present tense, the second verb would be in the present subjunctive: Le pedimos al herrero que funda el hierro.
Why is the pronoun Le at the beginning of the sentence if we already specify al herrero?
This is a classic Spanish rule: when you explicitly name an indirect object like al herrero (to the blacksmith), you still must include the matching indirect object pronoun. Here, that pronoun is Le (to him), even though it feels completely redundant to English speakers.
Could we use the verb derretir instead of fundir for melting the iron?
Both verbs mean to melt, but fundir is the correct choice here. Fundir is specifically used for smelting or melting down hard materials like metal (and also for melting cheese), while derretir is used for things that naturally melt at room temperature, like ice or butter.
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