El camarero alto nos pregunta nuestras pedidas

Question

In 3.3 "Past participles in a restaurant" one of the examples given goes like this:

El camarero alto nos pregunta nuestras pedidas.

I think it's supposed to mean "The tall waiter asks us for our orders" since "El camarero alto nos pregunta..." means "The tall waiter asks us..." and "nuestras" means "our".

"Pedidas", however, is the past participle of pedir so it would mean "requested". In spanishdict "translate" it does not say that "pedida" could be used as a noun meaning "order". Also, "preguntar" means to ask (not to ask FOR) according to spanishdict "translate". I know there are some verbs which imply an extra word like "pisar" which means ""to step ON", but apparently "preguntar isn't like that. So not only does "pedidas' seem to be wrong, but to me it appears that the word that would mean "for" is missing. Is my translation right, and if so what would be the best way to say it?

Answer 1

Kulemba said:

I'm pretty sure you could say that in English without the "for" having to be inserted anywhere. So the question becomes, if it is not necessary in English, is it necessary in Spanish?

• You cannot leave out the "for" in this sentence "The tall waiter asks us for our orders." To "ask for" is required in English grammar.

• However, it is not the same in Spanish. The word "pedir" includes the word "for." "Pedir" = to ask for something.

• You are correct that the word "pedido" is the right word here and not "pedida."

Answer 2

Blix, you are on the right track with your good questions.

First--

Pedido is an order, like an order of fries, clothing, etc. "Hacer un pedido" = to place an order. Pedida means something different related to asking for a woman's hand in marriage, so I think it's a typo in the lesson.

Second--

The word "pedir" includes the word "for" in its definition. "Pedir" = to ask for.

Third--

I think that the sentence at issue literally would translate as "The tall waiter inquired about your orders (what you all would like to order)." I say that because if someone asked for your order the verb "pedir" would be used.

Answer 3

I don't know about "pedidas", but the "for" that you are asking for is not even required in English. I thought that this sentence would read, "The tall waiter asks us our orders." I'm pretty sure you could say that in English without the "for" having to be inserted anywhere. So the question becomes, if it is not necessary in English, is it necessary in Spanish?

I want to see where this question goes! I'm sure there's a lot more to this one than meets the eye.

Edit: I just looked up "order." If you go on down to the second or third definition, it gives an instance where you would use "pedido" as a noun in a similar way to your sentence. That's close, but I'm not sure that really answers why they would use "pedidas."