If empezar a is how Spanish starts things, dejar de is how it stops them. Dejé de fumar (I quit smoking), deja de hacer ruido (stop making noise), no deja de llover (it won't stop raining) — every register from a doctor's office to a parent scolding a child relies on this construction. It is the default way to express cessation in Spain, and an A2 learner who masters it gains access to dozens of natural, everyday sentences.
The recipe is three slots: the verb dejar conjugated to match the subject, the preposition de, and an infinitive. The de is mandatory — drop it, and the sentence breaks.
The structure
| Subject | dejar (present) |
| Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | dejo | dejo de fumar | I'm quitting smoking |
| tú | dejas | dejas de fumar | you quit smoking |
| él / ella / usted | deja | deja de fumar | he/she/you (formal) quits smoking |
| nosotros / nosotras | dejamos | dejamos de fumar | we quit smoking |
| vosotros / vosotras | dejáis | dejáis de fumar | you (all) quit smoking |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | dejan | dejan de fumar | they / you (formal plural) quit smoking |
Dejar is a regular -ar verb, which makes the conjugation easy. The work of this lesson is the structure, the preposition, and the range of meanings the periphrasis covers.
Dejé de fumar hace cinco años y nunca me he arrepentido.
I quit smoking five years ago and I've never regretted it.
¡Dejad de gritar, por favor! Estoy intentando dormir.
(You all) please stop shouting! I'm trying to sleep.
No deja de llover desde el martes.
It hasn't stopped raining since Tuesday.
The three things dejar de can mean
This periphrasis covers three closely related meanings. They look identical in form, but the tense and the context decide which one a listener picks up.
1. Permanent cessation — to quit
When you use dejar de in the preterite (dejé, dejaste, dejó…), it usually means you stopped for good. This is the classic "I quit X" of New Year resolutions and lifestyle changes.
Mi padre dejó de beber el día que nació mi hijo.
My father quit drinking the day my son was born.
Dejé de comer carne en la universidad y ya no he vuelto.
I gave up meat at university and I've never gone back.
2. Temporary cessation — to stop (for now)
In the imperative or the present, dejar de often means stop doing something right now, in this moment. Not necessarily forever.
Deja de mirar el móvil cuando te hablo.
Stop looking at your phone when I'm talking to you.
Dejé de leer un momento para contestar el teléfono.
I stopped reading for a moment to answer the phone.
3. Negated: won't / can't stop
Used in the negative — especially no dejar de + infinitivo — the periphrasis means the action persists despite expectations to the contrary. This pattern is enormously common in everyday Spanish.
No deja de llamarme, ya no sé qué hacer.
He won't stop calling me, I don't know what to do anymore.
No dejaba de pensar en aquella conversación.
I couldn't stop thinking about that conversation.
Why the preposition is de, not a
Spanish periphrases come with their own prepositions, and dejar takes de. The mnemonic many teachers use: "a introduces an action you are moving into (starting); de introduces an action you are moving away from (stopping)." That metaphor matches the spatial origins of the prepositions — a points toward, de points away.
| Direction | Periphrasis | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Beginning (toward) | empezar a + inf. | Empezó a llover. — It started to rain. |
| End (away from) | dejar de + inf. | Dejó de llover. — It stopped raining. |
Empezó a llover y, media hora después, dejó de llover.
It started raining, and half an hour later it stopped.
The literal meaning of dejar — and why this matters
Dejar on its own (without de) means "to leave (something somewhere)" or "to let (someone do something)." Both meanings exist in modern Spanish and are very much alive. The cessation meaning only activates when de + infinitive follows.
| Use | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| dejar + noun | Dejé las llaves en la mesa. | I left the keys on the table. |
| dejar + a + infinitive | Mi madre no me deja salir. | My mother won't let me go out. |
| dejar + que + subjunctive | Déjame que te lo explique. | Let me explain it to you. |
| dejar de + infinitive | Dejé de fumar. | I quit smoking. |
The difference between me dejó salir (he/she let me go out) and dejó de salir (he/she stopped going out) is just one preposition. Confusing the two changes the meaning entirely.
Mi padre me dejó usar el coche el fin de semana.
My dad let me use the car over the weekend.
Mi padre dejó de usar el coche cuando se jubiló.
My dad stopped using the car when he retired.
Useful collocations to memorize as blocks
Treat these as single chunks. They will get you through hundreds of real conversations.
- dejar de fumar (to quit smoking)
- dejar de beber (to quit drinking)
- dejar de hablar (to stop talking)
- dejar de hacer ruido (to stop making noise)
- dejar de molestar (to stop bothering someone)
- dejar de llover / nevar (to stop raining / snowing)
- no dejar de + inf. (to not stop / to keep on)
¿Puedes dejar de mover la pierna? Me estás poniendo nervioso.
Can you stop moving your leg? You're making me nervous.
Aún no ha dejado de llover, así que cenamos en casa.
It still hasn't stopped raining, so we're eating at home.
With the imperative
The imperative of dejar is one of the most frequent forms in everyday Spain — parents, partners, and friends use it constantly to ask someone to cut something out.
| Subject | Affirmative imperative | Negative imperative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | deja | no dejes |
| vosotros | dejad | no dejéis |
| usted | deje | no deje |
| ustedes | dejen | no dejen |
Dejad de pelearos y poned la mesa.
(You all) stop fighting and set the table.
No dejes de avisarme cuando llegues, ¿vale?
Don't forget to let me know when you arrive, OK?
The last example is a high-frequency Spanish idiom: no dejes de + infinitivo in the imperative means "make sure to / don't fail to." It is the opposite of literal: instead of telling someone to stop, you are telling them to be sure to do something.
How dejar de differs from English "stop"
English "stop" is followed by either a gerund ("stop smoking") or a noun ("stop the car"), and the difference matters: "stop to smoke" (= pause in order to smoke) is a completely different sentence from "stop smoking" (= quit).
Spanish handles this with two different periphrases:
- Dejar de + infinitivo = stop doing something (quit).
- Parar a / detenerse a + infinitivo = stop in order to do something (pause).
Paré a fumar un cigarro en la gasolinera.
I stopped to have a cigarette at the petrol station.
Paré de fumar el año pasado.
I quit smoking last year. (here, parar de + inf. is also acceptable, slightly less common than dejar de)
For learners: when in doubt about "stop X-ing," use dejar de + infinitivo. It is correct in nearly every case.
Common Mistakes
❌ Dejé fumar el año pasado.
Incorrect — missing the preposition de after dejé.
✅ Dejé de fumar el año pasado.
I quit smoking last year.
❌ Dejé de fumando.
Incorrect — dejar de takes an infinitive, not a gerund.
✅ Dejé de fumar.
I quit smoking.
❌ Mi madre no me deja de salir.
Incorrect mixing — dejar de means quit, not 'let'; here you mean 'won't let me go out'.
✅ Mi madre no me deja salir.
My mother won't let me go out.
❌ Para de hacer ruido. (using parar instead of dejar in everyday Spain)
Acceptable but less common; parar de exists but Spaniards default to dejar de.
✅ Deja de hacer ruido.
Stop making noise.
❌ No deja a llover.
Incorrect — the preposition for dejar is de, not a.
✅ No deja de llover.
It won't stop raining.
Key takeaways
- Dejar de + infinitivo is the default way to say "stop doing something" or "quit X" in Spain.
- The preposition is de, never a. De signals movement away from an action.
- In the preterite, the periphrasis usually means permanent quitting; in the imperative, it means stop now.
- No dejar de + infinitivo means "won't / can't stop doing" — except in the imperative, where it flips to mean "make sure to do."
- Without de + infinitive, the verb dejar means "to leave (something)" or "to let (someone do something)" — completely different meanings.
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
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