dejar

Dejar is the rare grammar gift in Spanish: a perfectly regular -ar verb that does the work of half a dozen English verbs. Its core meaning is to leave something somewhere (dejar las llaves en la mesa — to leave the keys on the table), but Spaniards extend it to mean to let (déjame pensar — let me think), to stop (deja de gritar — stop shouting, in the dejar de + infinitive construction), to lend (¿me dejas el boli? — can I borrow your pen?), and to quit (ha dejado el tabaco — he's quit smoking). One verb, four English equivalents, and zero irregularity in any tense.

Because the conjugation itself is dead simple, the real challenge with dejar is not the morphology but knowing which English verb to map it onto in context. This page lays out the full paradigm — which you can essentially copy from hablar — and then spends most of its space on the meanings, the dejar de construction, and the dense idiomatic territory that dejar occupies in everyday Spain.

Non-finite forms

All forms regular. The participle dejado also serves as an adjective meaning neglectful, slovenly: está muy dejado últimamente (he's let himself go recently).

Indicative — simple tenses

Presente

Textbook regular. Dejáis takes the standard -áis accent. The j is pronounced /x/ in Spain (a stronger, more rasping sound than in most of Latin America); it stays as j throughout the paradigm with no spelling changes because j is comfortable before any vowel.

Pretérito perfecto simple

Regular. Note that dejé takes a written accent on the final é (regular for -ar yo preterites), and dejó likewise on the ó. There's no spelling change because j needs no protection before é — the difference from jugar (jugué) or llegar (llegué) is that g would change pronunciation before e, so it inserts u; j is already a fricative and stays put.

Pretérito imperfecto

Futuro simple

Condicional

Indicative — compound tenses

Pretérito perfecto compuesto

In peninsular Spanish, this is the default for things that happened today or are still relevant: he dejado las llaves dentro (I've left the keys inside — and I'm now locked out).

Pretérito pluscuamperfecto

Futuro compuesto

Condicional compuesto

Subjunctive — simple tenses

Presente de subjuntivo

Regular -ar subjunctive endings. Dejéis takes the standard accent.

Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra / -se)

Both -ra and -se sets are interchangeable; -ra dominates in Spain.

Subjunctive — compound tenses

Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo

Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo

Imperative

The affirmative vosotros form is dejad, regular. The affirmative tú form is deja. Negative imperatives come from the subjunctive.

The imperative of dejar — especially déjalo, déjame, dejadme — is one of the most-uttered constructions in spoken peninsular Spanish. Déjame en paz (leave me alone), déjalo ya (drop it / let it go), dejadme pensar (let me think) are everyday expressions every learner needs by reflex.

Note the accent on déjame, déjalo: when one or more pronouns attach to a two-syllable imperative, the stress shifts and must be marked.

The four core meanings — and how to tell them apart

Spaniards effortlessly process whether dejar in a given sentence means leave, let, stop, or lend. The disambiguation comes from syntax:

Meaning 1: to leave (something somewhere)

Direct object is a thing or person; the sentence usually includes a location.

Meaning 2: to let / allow (someone to do something)

Direct object is a person; the verb is followed by a bare infinitive or que + subjunctive.

Note that dejar + bare infinitive (with a direct-object person) and dejar que + subjunctive are interchangeable for most contexts. Déjame entrar and deja que entre both mean let me in.

Meaning 3: to stop / quit (doing something) — dejar de + infinitive

A separate construction with its own semantics. Dejar de + infinitive means to stop doing X or to quit X as a habit. The de is mandatory.

The negative no dejar de + infinitive means to not stop, to keep on — a useful intensifier: no dejes de llamarme cuando llegues (don't fail to call me when you arrive — i.e., make sure to call).

Meaning 4: to lend (Spain — informal)

This usage is particularly Spanish: dejar often replaces prestar in informal speech for short-term lending of small things.

For bigger or longer-term lending (money, cars, flats), Spaniards usually go back to prestar: me prestó dos mil euros.

Dejar with reflexive se

Dejarse has two distinct uses:

1. dejarse + infinitive = to let oneself be... (passive permission)

   • Se deja convencer fácilmente. — He's easily persuaded.
   • No me dejo manipular por nadie. — I don't let anyone manipulate me.

2. dejarse algo (en un sitio) = to absent-mindedly leave one's own possession somewhere

   • Me he dejado el paraguas en el bar. — I've left my umbrella at the bar.
   • The reflexive marks that the thing is yours and the leaving was accidental — distinct from the neutral he dejado el paraguas (which sounds deliberate).

High-frequency expressions with dejar

The classic English-speaker error

English splits leave (transitive: leave keys; intransitive: leave the room) into two different verbs in Spanish. Dejar is only the transitive leave — leave something or someone behind. For leave meaning to depart, to go away, Spanish uses salir (de un sitio) or irse. Saying dejé a las ocho for I left at eight is a calque that doesn't work — Spaniards say salí a las ocho or me fui a las ocho. Dejé el trabajo a las ocho means I quit my job at eight, not I left work at eight.

A second classic error: omitting the de in dejar de + infinitive. English stop doing X maps cleanly onto Spanish dejar *de hacer X. Forgetting the preposition (*deja fumar instead of deja de fumar) changes the meaning entirely — deja fumar would mean let smoking (let it smoke?), an ungrammatical fragment in most contexts.

A third trap: using dejar for to leave (intransitive) in the sense of to depart from a place. Spaniards always use salir de or irse de. Dejé la oficina temprano sounds wrong; salí de la oficina temprano or me fui de la oficina temprano are right.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Dejar is fully regular in every tense — the grammatical challenge is semantic, not morphological.
• Four core meanings: to leave (a thing in a place), to let / allow (a person to do), to quit / stop (in dejar de + infinitive), to lend (Spain, informal).
• Dejar de + infinitive always requires de. No dejar de + infinitive means to make sure to.
• Dejar covers transitive leave only; for to depart, leave a place use salir or irse.
• The imperative forms déjame, déjalo, déjate, dejadme are some of the most common spoken commands in Spain.
• Dejarse with body-part and possession objects (me dejé las llaves) is the idiomatic way to express absent-minded mislaying — distinct from neutral dejé.