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Se me quedó la llave en el auto.

Se me quedó la llave en el auto.
I left the key in the car.
From Lesson 174:Accidental events (se me rompió)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Se me quedó la llave en el auto.

Why does this sentence use se me quedó instead of just saying dejé la llave?
Using dejé (I left) sounds like you did it on purpose. This sentence uses the accidental se structure to show it was an oversight. You are literally saying the key remained in the car, and it happened to you (me), which playfully shifts the blame away from you!
Why is the verb quedó used instead of an "I" form, since the translation is "I left"?
In the accidental se structure, the grammatical subject is the object involved, not the person. Here, the subject is la llave (the key). Since the key is the thing doing the action, the verb takes the third-person singular form (quedó).
Doesn't the verb quedar actually mean to stay or remain?
Exactly! While English expresses this accident actively (I left the key), Spanish describes it by saying the key stayed or remained (quedó) in the car. It is a much more passive way to look at the event.
How would this sentence change if I accidentally left multiple keys in the car?
Because the keys act as the subject of the sentence, the verb must match them. You would change the verb to the plural form quedaron to match las llaves: Se me quedaron las llaves en el auto.

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