quedarse

Quedarse looks deceptively simple — it is a perfectly regular -ar verb with reflexive pronouns. There are no stem changes, no spelling shifts, no irregular preterites. And yet quedarse is one of the highest-value verbs in peninsular Spanish, because its meaning splinters into a half-dozen different uses that all hide behind the same conjugation. Me quedo en casa (I'm staying home), me quedé sin batería (I ran out of battery), me quedé sordo (I went deaf), me quedo con este (I'll take this one), me he quedado pasmado (I was stunned). Master the conjugation in fifteen minutes; then spend a lifetime learning the meanings. This page covers both — and disentangles quedarse from the non-reflexive quedar, which in Spain has the everyday meaning "to meet up" that Latin America does not share.

Non-finite forms

The reflexive pronoun attaches to the end of the infinitive (quedarse) and the gerund (quedándose) — the gerund gains a written accent because the added pronoun would otherwise shift the stress.

Indicative — simple tenses

Presente

Pretérito perfecto simple

Note that nos quedamos is identical in the present and the preterite — context disambiguates. The same holds for any regular -ar verb.

Pretérito imperfecto

Futuro simple

Condicional

Indicative — compound tenses

In compound tenses the reflexive pronoun precedes haber — it cannot sit between haber and the participle. So me he quedado, never he me quedado.

Pretérito perfecto compuesto

Pretérito pluscuamperfecto

Futuro compuesto

Condicional compuesto

Subjunctive — simple tenses

Presente de subjuntivo

Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra / -se)

Subjunctive — compound tenses

Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo

Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo

Imperative

The peninsular vosotros affirmative is built by replacing -r of the infinitive with -d — but with reflexive verbs the -d drops before the pronoun os: quedaos, not quedados. This is the single most-missed detail in the imperative of any reflexive verb in Spain.

Two extra details: the nosotros affirmative drops the final -s before -nos (quedemos + nos → quedémonos); and the pronoun attaches as one word in every affirmative form, forcing a written accent to preserve the original stress (quédate, quédese, quedémonos, quédense).

Quedarse: the seven core meanings

This is where quedarse earns its place. Below are the seven uses you will meet daily in Spain. They share one conjugation and a recognisable common thread — remaining in a state, whether physical, emotional, or possessive — but they translate into seven different English verbs.

The thread that ties them together: in every case, the subject enters a state and stays there. Quedarse + adjective is the most productive of the "to become" constructions in Spanish — and unlike ponerse (a temporary mood change) or volverse (a deeper transformation), quedarse describes a state you have landed in as the result of an event. Se quedó sordo — he was hit by something, and afterwards he was deaf. Me quedé sin dinero — I spent it, and afterwards I had none.

Quedarse vs. quedar in peninsular Spain

The two verbs share a stem but split semantically. Here is the contrast:

The "to meet up" use of quedar is the single most distinctive Spain-versus-Latin-America difference in this verb. In Mexico or Argentina you'd say nos vemos a las ocho (we'll see each other at eight). In Spain the default is quedamos a las ocho (we'll meet at eight). This is true quedar, not quedarse — no reflexive pronoun.

High-frequency collocations from peninsular Spain

The classic English-speaker error

The most frequent error is reaching for quedar (no se) when quedarse is needed — i.e., dropping the reflexive pronoun in the "stay" meaning. Yo quedo en casa sounds wrong in Spain: it makes the listener wait for a missing piece, because quedar without se defaults to "meet up" or "be left." For the meaning to stay, quedarse is non-negotiable: Me quedo en casa.

The second common error is using quedarse where Spaniards use quedar — saying nos quedamos a las ocho when you mean we're meeting at eight. That is wrong in Spain. The "meet up" use is the non-reflexive quedar: Quedamos a las ocho. Spanish speakers from Latin America who use quedar for to stay are also liable to produce this exactly backwards — but in Spain, the split is firm.

A third, subtler error: missing the vosotros imperative drop. Quedados, niños is wrong; it has to be Quedaos, niños. The -d of the imperative drops before os in every reflexive verb (sentaos, callaos, vestíos).

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Quedarse is a fully regular reflexive -ar verb — the conjugation has no surprises. The depth lives in the meanings, not the morphology.
• Seven core uses share the conjugation: to stay, to stay over, to become, to end up / run out of, to keep / take, to be stunned, to fall asleep / fall silent.
• Quedarse + adjective is the standard "to become" construction for states you land in: quedarse sordo, viudo, sin batería, en blanco.
• The non-reflexive quedar in Spain has its own life: to meet up (Quedamos a las ocho), to suit / look on (Te queda bien), to be left over (No queda pan), to be located (Queda cerca).
• The peninsular vosotros affirmative reflexive imperative is quedaos, never quedados — the -d drops before os.