ask

preguntar

ask(ahsk)

transitive verb

1. (to inquire)

a. preguntar

I asked if I could say a few words.

Pregunté si podía decir unas palabras.

2. (to invite)

a. invitar

It takes a lot of guts to ask the most popular girl in school to the dance.

Requiere valentía invitar a la chica más popular de la escuela al baile.

3. (to request)

a. pedir

I'm going to ask her to marry me while we are in Hawaii.

Voy a pedirle que se case conmigo cuando estemos en Hawai.

intransitive verb

4. (to inquire)

a. preguntar

Are you married, if you don't mind me asking?

¿Estás casado? Si me permites que te pregunte.

5. (to request)

a. pedir

How do you know he won't let you borrow his car if you don't ask?

¿Cómo sabes que no te prestaría su carro si no se lo pides?

ask

transitive verb

1. (inquire about)

a. preguntar

to ask somebody somethingpreguntar algo a alguien

to ask (somebody) a questionhacer una pregunta (a alguien)

to ask somebody the timepreguntar la hora a alguien

to ask somebody the waypreguntar a alguien el camino

don't ask me!¿a mí me lo vas a preguntar?

2. (request)

a. pedir

to ask somebody for somethingpedir algo a alguien

to ask somebody to do somethingpedir a alguien que haga algo

to ask a favor of somebody, to ask somebody a favorpedir un favor a alguien

if it isn't asking too muchsi no es mucho pedir

to ask somebody's permission to do somethingpedir permiso a alguien para hacer algo

3. (invite)

a. invitar, convidar

to ask somebody to lunchinvitar a alguien a comer

intransitive verb

4. (inquire)

a. preguntar

5. (request)

a.

to ask for somethingpedir algo

you only have to ask!¡no tienes más que pedirlo!

6. (colloquial)

a.

he was asking for it!¡se lo estaba buscando!

Copyright © 2006 Harrap Publishers Limited

ask [ɑːsk]

transitive verb

1 (inquire) preguntar

"how is Frank?" he asked —¿cómo está Frank? —preguntó

I don't know, ask your father asked if this was true, she replied ... to ask [how]/[what]/[when]/[where]/[why] ...

to ask sb sth preguntar algo a algn; I asked him his name/the time le pregunté su nombre/la hora; to ask o.s. sth preguntarse algo

I began to ask myself what I was doing there to ask sb [about] sth/sb make specific inquiry request general information

did you ask him about the job? ¿le has preguntado por el trabajo?; (in more detail) ¿le has preguntado acerca del trabajo?

I've been meaning to ask you about that llevo tiempo queriendo or hace tiempo que quiero preguntarte acerca de eso

they didn't ask me about my political views you will have to ask David about that

ask her about her plans for Christmas pregúntale qué planes tiene para la Navidad

why, I ask myself, am I wasting my time here? ask yourself whether you really want to do this here are some of the things you should ask yourself before accepting

ask me another! ¡no tengo ni idea!

she asked me if I'd enjoyed my dinner "I'm afraid to ask what it cost" - "then don't ask" that silly old bat - I ask you, who does she think she is? who'd be a mother - I ask you! I can't even begin to guess - ask me another "why do you think she left?" - "ask me another"

don't ask me! ¡yo qué sé! (informal); ¡qué sé yo! (informal); especially (LAm)

I ask you! (despairing) ¿te lo puedes creer?

ask him if he has seen her pregúntale si la ha visto

if you ask me, I think she's crazy para mí que está loca

and where have you been, may I ask? ¿y dónde has estado, si se puede saber?

to ask (sb) a question hacer una pregunta (a algn)

I wasn't the only one asking questions

I asked the teacher what to do next le pregunté al profesor lo que tenía que hacer después

ask them what time the party is pregúntales a qué hora es la fiesta

who asked you? ¿quién te ha preguntado a ti?

ask her why she didn't come pregúntale por qué no vino

2 (request) pedir

to ask sb a favourask a favour of sb pedir un favor a algn

how much are they asking for the car? ¿cuánto piden por el coche?

they are asking £200,000 for the house piden 200.000 libras por la casa

that's asking the impossible eso es pedir lo imposible

it's not a lot to ask no es mucho pedir

that's asking a lot eso es mucho pedir

what more can you ask? ¿qué más se puede pedir?

to ask sth of sb

he did everything asked of him hizo todo lo que se le pidió; all he asked of us was that we tell people about his plight solo nos pidió que habláramos a la gente de la difícil situación en que se encontraba

to ask that sth be done pedir que se haga algo

all I'm asking is that you keep an open mind solo te pido que or lo único que pido es que mantengas una actitud abierta

to ask to do sth: I asked to see the director pedí ver al director

he asked to go on the picnic preguntó si podía ir (con ellos) de picnic; to ask sb to do sth pedir a algn que haga algo

I asked him to come

we had to ask him to leave tuvimos que decirle or pedirle que se marchara

she said she had been asked to take two suitcases to Africa by a man called Sean to ask that

that's asking too much eso es pedir demasiado

I think she's asking too much creo que está exigiendo demasiado

all I'm asking of you is a little more time He did everything that was asked of him, took wickets at important times and deserved everything he got

permission

3 (invite) invitar

have you been asked? ¿te han invitado?

to ask sb to dinner invitar a algn a cenar

I was asked into the drawing room couldn't you ask John to the party?

intransitive verb

1 (inquire) preguntar

he was too shy to ask le dio vergüenza preguntar

to ask [about] sth/sb make specific inquiry preguntar por algo/algn request general information preguntar acerca de algo/algn

ask about our reduced rates for students pregunta por or infórmate sobre nuestros descuentos para estudiantes

he was asking about the Vikings preguntaba acerca de or sobre los vikingos; I asked about the possibility of staying on pregunté acerca de or sobre la posibilidad de quedarme más tiempo; pregunté si era posible que me quedara más tiempo

I don't want people asking about my past

he was asking about you estaba preguntando por ti

I asked about the children and how they are getting on

"what's the matter?" — "don't ask" —¿qué pasa? —más te vale no saberlo

now you're asking! (what a difficult question) ¡vaya con la preguntita! (informal)

"what year did England win the World Cup?" - "now you're asking!"

(who knows) ¡quién sabe!; (wouldn't we all like to know) ¡eso quisiera saber yo! (informal)

"how long is it since you had a holiday?" - "now you're asking!" "when do you think we'll get a pay rise?" - "now you're asking!" "what year did England win the World Cup?" - "now you're asking!" "When am I going to see you again" - "Now you're asking!" She shrugged her shoulders

I was only asking era solo una pregunta

"what has he gone and done now?" — "you may well ask!" —¿qué es lo que ha hecho ahora? —¡buena pregunta!

2 (make request) pedir

if you need anything, just ask si quieres algo no tienes más que pedirlo

this is the third time of asking

the asking price el precio que se pide/pedía etc

they just come in and pay the asking price without asking any questions houses are selling for 5-10% over the asking price the flats were sold at less than half their original asking price

I offered £5,000 below the asking price les ofrecí 5.000 libras menos de lo que pedían

it's yours for the asking no tienes más que pedirlo y es tuyo

he knew the nomination was his for the asking \COB2

Translate ask by preguntar only in contexts where information is being sought:

I'll ask him Voy a preguntárselo

Ask her what she thinks Pregúntale qué le parece

We asked everywhere Preguntamos en todas partes

Use pedir when ask means "request" or "demand":

No one asked to see my passport Nadie me pidió el pasaporte

We asked them to be here before five Les pedimos que estuviesen or estuvieran aquí antes de las cinco

He was asked to explain his behaviour Le pidieron que explicara su comportamiento

Pedir que is followed by the subjunctive.

ask ask for