More indirect orders

Question

This is a challenge (at least for me) in mood/tense; in the following sentences, an old man is instructing the third & fourth of four young guys to, ah, run errands. Items in green: to be or not to be subjunctive? what tense??

Y mandaba el tercero "¡Tú, corre a la casa de Don Felipe, di que ha sucedido aquí y pregúntale si yo y el juez puediéremos cenar con él esta tarde!"

Y mandaba el cuartero "¡Tú, corre al la casa del juez, Don Sebastien, y pregúntale si puediere cenar con mi a la casa de Don Felipe esta tarde¡"

Want to feel like a dunce? Just try writing "a moral story" in a language you really don't know ....

Y le mandable al tercero...."Tú,...?? Y le mandaba al cuartero..."...??? - 0074b507, May 19, 2011

Y [el viejo] le mandaba al tercero.... (Am I reading your intention correctly??) - 0074b507, May 19, 2011

Don't know the answer, but con mi should be conmigo, believe it or not...and con ti would be contigo... - webdunce, May 19, 2011

Answer 1

Y mandaba al tercero "¡Tú, corre a la casa de Don Felipe, dile lo que ha sucedido aquí, y pregúntale si yo y el juez podríamos cenar con él esta tarde!"

Y mandaba al cuarto "¡Tú, corre al la casa del juez, Don Sebastien, y pregúntale si podría cenar con migo en la casa de Don Felipe esta tarde¡"

you use al instead of el because otherwise you are saying the tercero esta mandando.

Also, Mandaba is like he was ordering, as if you are relating some past event while something else is going on. If you are telling a story as it happened, you could say "Y le mandó.." as, and he ordered..

Good luck with your story.

Welcome here Rey55 - - ian-hill, May 30, 2011

Muchas gracias! But you guys gotta know that to rescue someone, you gotta be quick! See Picking Up the New Old Story - Lector_Constante, May 30, 2011