To ask someone to do something in Spanish, we normally use the verb pedir (to ask in this context). This is how it works if we express it in El Presente, El Presente Progresivo, El Pretérito Perfecto, El Futuro Próximo or El Futuro Simple:
Mi novio siempre me pide que sea paciente con él.My boyfriend is always asking me to be patient with him.
Notice how in English what is asked is expressed with an infinitive:
- My boyfriend is always asking me to be patient with him.
while in Spanish we use El Presente de Subjuntivo, after "que":
- Mi novio siempre me pide que sea paciente con él.
You cannot omit "que"
In this type of sentence, you will generally find either:
- an indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les) as one normally asks "someone" to do something; e.g., "me está pidiendo que...", "les pide que..."
- an indirect object which always uses the preposition "a"; e.g., "pide a tu hermano que...", "yo nunca pido a Antonio que...". In English there is no need to use a preposition: "He is asking Laura to ..." but in Spanish you must use the preposition "a": "Le está pidiendo a Laura que ...".
Be careful not to use the verb "preguntar" (to ask) in this context. You cannot say: "Mi novio siempre me pregunta que sea paciente con él."
Here are other examples:
Elena siempre pide a sus padres que la ayuden económicamente.Elena is always asking her parents to help her financially.
Remember:
Pedir + [a alguien] + que + verb in El Presente de Subjuntivo
To see how this works with "pedir" in most past tenses see Pedir followed by the Spanish imperfect subjunctive to ask someone to do something
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