Quedar is one of these awkward Spanish verbs that means different things depending on how it is used.
These phrases illustrate some of the most common uses of quedar and give an idea of how to use it.
Quedarse when used reflexively it means 'to stay'.
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| to stay | quedarse |
| to stay with friends | quedarse con amigos |
| I stayed at home | Me quedo en casa |
| We stayed in a hotel | Nos quedamos en un hotel |
| We stayed with friends | Nos quedamos con amigos |
| Stay at home | Quedate en casa |
Quedar meaning 'to remain' to 'be left'. Quedar is a good example of a Spanish verb that doesn't translate neatly into English.
The literal translations are useful when you are using phrases to learn language. Literally Quedan ocho translates as 'There remain eight' and Me quedan cuatro as 'To me remain four'.
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| to remain, be left | quedar |
| There are eight left | Quedan ocho |
| I have four left | Me quedan cuatro |
| I have no money left | No me queda dinero |
| We don't have much money left | Nos queda poco dinero |
Quedar meaning 'to suit' as in 'these trousers suit me'.
You can either use ... me queda bien '... suits me (well) or ... me queda mal '... suits me badly' or if things are really bad ... me queda fatal.
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| These trousers suit me | Este pantalón me queda bien |
| These trousers suit you | Este pantalón te queda bien |
| These trousers suit you (formal) | Este pantalón se queda bien |
| These trousers suit us | Este pantalón nos queda bien |
| These trousers suit you (plural) | Este pantalón les queda bien |
Quedar en meaning 'to agree on something'.
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| We agree on this | Quedamos en esto |
| We can't agree on anything | No podemos quedar en nada |
Quedar en + infinitive meaning 'to arrange/to decide to + infinitive'.
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| to arrange to + infinitive | quedar en + infinitive |
| We arranged/decided to meet on Friday | Quedamos en vernos el viernes |
| We arranged/decided to go to France | Quedamos en ir a Francia |
Quedar meaning 'to meet'.
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| to arrange to meet someone | quedar con uno |
| Let's meet at two | Quedamos a los dos |
| Let's meet in the centre at two | Quedamos en el centro a los dos |
| Where shall we meet? | ¿Dónde quedamos? |
| When shall we meet? | ¿A qué hora quedamos? |
And a little bit more ...
Quedar bien con means 'to make a good impression'.
So He quedado bien con los extranjeros 'I made a good impression with the foreigners' or He quedado bien con tus padres 'I made a good impression on your parents'.
If things have gone badly, then just replace bien with fatal.
He quedado fatal con tus padres 'I made a dreadful impression on your parents'.
In place of con 'with' you can use ante 'before'. E.g. He quedado fatal ante tus padres.
Quedar mal con uno also means 'to be at odds with someone' which is very similar,if not identical to the above.
He quedado mal ante mis amigos 'I'm at odds with my friends'.
Household tasks
Quedar mal 'to do badly'.
If you've done some task but it has turned out badly, quedar can be used. For example, you have painted a wall in your house, but you've messed up, and when telling someone later, you can say:
Ha quedado mal 'It turned out badly'.