The verb quedar in Spanish is one of those verbs that cause confussion among our students on Spanishviaskype.com. When they ask us why the Spanish language has verbs with so many different meanings, we ask them back about the verb “to get” in English.

Obviously, in all languages, there are verbs that are some kind of jack of all trades and the verb quedar in Spanish is one of them. Today, we’ll see some of the meanings for this verb.

The verb “quedar” in Spanish as a non-reflexive verb

As a non-reflexive verb, the verb quedar in Spanish is intransitive (it can’t be followed by direct objects). It has many different meanings. Let’s see some of them:

  • Remain, be left: Ya no queda leche en la nevera. / Quedan solo dos días para mi cumpleaños.
  • Fit, suit: El vestido oscuro te queda mejor que el blanco. / Estos pantalones no me quedan bien; necesito una talla menos. Notice that the pronouns te and me in those sentences are not reflexive pronouns, but indirect objects.
  • Meet up, settle on: Mis amigos y yo hemos quedado en el cine a las ocho. / ¿Quedamos en tu casa?
  • Be, be located: Mi casa queda cerca del centro de la ciudad.
  • Agree: Los ministros quedaron en ofrecer ayudas económicas a los autónomos.

 

The verb “quedar” in Spanish as a pronominal verb

We can also find the verb quedar in Spanish as a pronominal verb. What does it mean? We need to form this verb adding a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se). Here you’ll find some examples:

  • Stay, lodge: Si viajas a España puedes quedarte en mi casa.
  • Remain in a position, to stay: Me quedaré fuera de la habitación hasta que termines.
  • Be, get + feeling or state: Cuando entró en la fiesta, se quedó sorprendido. / Cuando me comunicaron mi despido, me quedé helado y apenado.

Some phrases and idioms

Finally, we’ll see some examples of phrases and idioms that use the verb quedar in Spanish. As we always say, it’s necessary to introduce this kind of expressions in order to sound natural when we have conversations in Spanish.

  • Quedarse sopa: to fall asleep. La película era tan aburrida que me quedé sopa.
  • Quedar como el culo: to look awful. El examen DELE me quedó como el culo. Realmente no había estudiado nada.
  • Quedar por ver: we’ll see. Quedan por ver las consecuencias económicas del coronavirus.
  • Quedar en ridículo: to look ridiculous. Con tu actitud, has quedado en ridículo.
  • Quedar en aguas de borrajas: to come to nothing. La pelea entre los dos hermanos quedó en aguas de borrajas, afortunadamente.

In conclusion, these are only some examples of the options that we have when we use the verb quedar in Spanish. However, no te quedes ahí and reserve clases en Spanishviaskype.com. We’ll show you how to use this verb properly and you’ll learn more expressions like those. What if you want to try first? Of course, reserve a trial lesson here and just start speaking Spanish with us.