Confusion about el imperfecto de subjuntivo translation above

Pati E.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Confusion about el imperfecto de subjuntivo translation above

I'm confused over the above example:  El banco nos dijo que firmáramos los documentos.

With the English translation provided (The bank told us to sign the documents), why is it not written as follows:

El banco nos dijo firmar los documentos.

What's confusing is the reason for the use of el imperfecto de subjuntivo in this example --- particularly with this English translation.

Pati Ecuamiga


Asked 5 years ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hola Pati

This type of sentence doesn't work the same way in English and Spanish grammatically. 

In English you say "To tell/ask someone to do something" 

"She asked her to buy some flowers."

In Spanish to express this, we use:

Decir/pedir [a alguien] que + subjunctive.

If main verb in the present:

Ella le pide que compre flores. (Present subjunctive)

If main verb in the past:

Ella le pidió que comprara flores. (Imperfect subjunctive)

I hope this clarified it for you.

Saludos

Inma

 

Confusion about el imperfecto de subjuntivo translation above

I'm confused over the above example:  El banco nos dijo que firmáramos los documentos.

With the English translation provided (The bank told us to sign the documents), why is it not written as follows:

El banco nos dijo firmar los documentos.

What's confusing is the reason for the use of el imperfecto de subjuntivo in this example --- particularly with this English translation.

Pati Ecuamiga


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