It depends on what you want to say, and the subject of your sentence. The infinitive of “ask” is preguntar. In English, this means “to ask”. For each subject, preguntar takes on a slightly different ending. See below for the present tense:
- Yo pregunto (I ask)
- Tu preguntas (you ask, informal)
- Usted pregunta (you ask, formal)
- Nosotros preguntamos (we ask)
- Ustedes preguntan (they ask, you ask formal)
- Vosotros preguntais (you ask, formal)
To command someone to ask something, say¡Pregunta!
Note that in Spanish, you can tell the subject of the sentence and the tense of the sentence by the ending of the verb. Usually, you do not need to add the subject in the sentence unless it is for clarification or emphasis.
“Preguntar” means to ask. “Hacer una pregunta” means to ask a question. “Pedir” means to ask for/seek something or to ask that someone do something. Here are some examples:
- Si tienes algunas dudas, me puedes preguntar. (If you have any questions, you can ask me.)
- ¿Podría hacer una pregunta? (Could I ask a question?)
- Pidió una cerveza al camarero. (He asked the waiter for a beer.)
- Voy a pedir que bajen la música. (I’m going to ask them to turn down the music.)
