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
InmaKwiziq team memberCorrect 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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