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Here it translates to "Are you going to ask for more money", but the "for" is omitted in translation. Why is this the case and how can I tell when to drop "pour"?

2 Answers 2

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No "pour" is used simply for the reason that in French "to ask for sth" is not constructed with a preposition in this case.

  • Il lui a demandé des allumettes.
    He asked him for some matches.

  • Le mécanicien a demandé les clés de la voiture.
    The mechanic asked for the car keys.

In other cases "demander" will be constructed with a preposition, but it is never "pour".

  • Il lui a demandé d'allumer son feu.
    He asked him to light his fire.)

  • Ils leur ont demandé de partir.
    They asked them to go away.

When "pour" is found after "demander" it is part of a "complément circonstanciel" and does not introduce an object. This is probably the context in which you found "pour".

  • Il l'a demandée pour secrétaire personnelle.
  • Ils le leur ont demandé pour s'en assurer, mais ils le connaissaient déjà (le chemin de la gare).
  • Le divorce pour faute peut être demandé pour des faits imputables à l'autre époux… (Google books)
  • — Qu'est-ce qu'il demande pour cette bicyclette ? — Il demande cinquante euros.
    What's he asking for this bicyle? He's asking fifty euros.
  • Tu vas demander plus d'argent pour cette bicyclette ? Elle les vaut pas !
    In this particular case "pour" means "in return for". Are you going to ask for more money (in return) for this bicyle?
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As ever with prepositions, don't expect them to map out perfectly from one language to the next.

Arguments indicating the goal of a verb are marked with for in English (ask for, look for, call for, etc), but are direct objects in French, a trait inherited from Latin (and indeed from the common ancestor of English and Latin. While English developed a preposition to mark those arguments of goal, a close relative like Dutch didn't (ask for something is just "iets vragen" literally something ask).

However marking goal arguments as direct objects is cross-linguistically weird, and English is far from the only Indo-European language that developed a preposition to fill that role. In less formal registers of French, some such prepositions have developed: après in European French and pour in Canadian French (the choice is usually regarded as influence from English).

Je cherchais le mot juste -> je cherchais après le mot juste (EU) / Je cherchais pour le mot juste (CA)

Il te demandait -> Il demandait après toi (EU) / Il demandait pour toi (CA)

However, such an usage is still stigmatised, and as a learner you should use the direct object versions.

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