Quedar in Spanish: 8 Meanings You Need to Know

Quedar is the Spanish verb that dictionary entries never fully prepare you for.

Most textbooks introduce quedar as 'to remain' or 'to have left' and move on. Native speakers, however, use quedar constantly — to make plans, compliment someone's outfit, report how something turned out, and assess social situations. If you only know one or two meanings, you will understand perhaps half of the quedar sentences you encounter. This guide closes the gap.

A note before we begin: quedar and quedarse are not the same verb. Quedarse — with the reflexive pronoun se — means 'to stay' or 'to keep.' The pair quedar / quedarse is one of the most important verb pairs in Spanish, and the section at the end of this guide covers it directly. But first, all eight meanings of quedar itself.

Meaning 1: To have left / to remain (quantity and time)

This is the most common meaning of quedar in a purely grammatical sense. It works like gustar — the thing that is left is the subject, and the person it belongs to takes an indirect object pronoun. In English you say 'I have two days left.' In Spanish the construction flips: the days are the subject and the indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les) marks who they belong to.

• Me quedan dos días antes de la presentación. = I have two days left before the presentation.
• ¿Te queda algo de dinero? = Do you have any money left?
• Le quedan tres exámenes este mes. = She has three exams left this month.
• Solo nos queda una opción. = We only have one option left.
• Quedan diez minutos para el descanso. = There are ten minutes left before the break.
• ¿Cuántas páginas te quedan? = How many pages do you have left?

Notice that the verb agrees with the subject — the thing left — not with the person. Me queda un café (one coffee is left for me) versus me quedan dos cafés (two coffees are left for me). This is the same agreement rule as in me gusta / me gustan.

Meaning 2: To be located

Quedar meaning 'to be located' or 'to be situated' is widely used across Latin America and heard in Spain too, especially in informal speech. The meaning overlaps with estar, but quedar emphasises a relatively fixed or established location — the kind of place that does not move. It answers the question ¿Dónde queda...? much as English asks 'Where is...' about a permanent location.

• ¿Dónde queda la farmacia más cercana? = Where is the nearest pharmacy?
• El museo queda a dos cuadras del metro. = The museum is two blocks from the metro.
• ¿Sabes dónde queda ese bar? = Do you know where that bar is?
• La oficina queda en el tercer piso. = The office is on the third floor.
• Queda muy lejos del centro. = It is very far from the centre.

Meaning 3: To fit / to look good (on clothing and style)

This meaning is a Spanish staple — you will hear it constantly in changing rooms, at markets, and whenever friends help each other choose clothes. Quedar here describes how something looks on a person or how well something fits a context. Again, the garment or item is the subject, and the person wears the indirect object pronoun.

• Te queda fenomenal ese abrigo. = That coat looks great on you.
• ¿Me queda bien este color? = Does this colour suit me?
• El vestido le queda un poco grande. = The dress is a bit big on her.
• Esos zapatos te quedan perfectos. = Those shoes fit you perfectly.
• No me queda bien esa talla. = That size does not fit me well.
• Le queda muy bien el corte de pelo. = That haircut really suits him.

Meaning 4: To arrange to meet / to meet up

This is the social meaning of quedar, and it is extremely high frequency in everyday Spanish conversation. When Spanish speakers plan to get together, they say quedar. The meeting does not have to be formal — quedar is equally at home for a coffee with a friend and a business lunch. The prepositions con (with someone) and a or en (time or place) appear frequently.

• He quedado con María a las cuatro. = I have arranged to meet María at four.
• ¿Quedamos el sábado? = Shall we meet up on Saturday?
• Quedamos en el café de siempre. = We are meeting at the usual café.
• No puedo — ya he quedado. = I cannot — I already have plans (literally: I have already arranged to meet someone).
• ¿A qué hora quedamos? = What time are we meeting?
• Quedaron para cenar el viernes. = They arranged to have dinner on Friday.

The phrase ya he quedado — I already have plans — is so embedded in everyday speech that many Spanish learners hear it constantly without recognising what it literally means. Once you learn this meaning of quedar, you will spot it everywhere.

Meaning 5: To result in / to end up in a state

Quedar can describe the result or outcome of a process — how something turned out. In this use, quedar is followed by an adjective, a past participle, or a prepositional phrase that describes the final state. It often translates as 'to turn out,' 'to end up,' or 'to be left.'

• El libro quedó muy bien. = The book turned out really well.
• Quedó herido en el accidente. = He ended up injured in the accident.
• La cocina quedó limpia después de limpiarla. = The kitchen was left clean after cleaning it.
• La reunión quedó pendiente para la próxima semana. = The meeting was put off until next week.
• El proyecto quedó paralizado por falta de fondos. = The project stalled for lack of funding.
• Quedó claro que no habría más cambios. = It became clear that there would be no more changes.

Meaning 6: To make an impression (quedar bien / quedar mal)

Quedar bien means to make a good impression or to come across well. Quedar mal means to make a bad impression, to embarrass yourself, or to let someone down. These phrases are indispensable for talking about social situations, first meetings, and how behaviour is perceived by others. They are almost always about human impression rather than the literal outcome of a process.

• Quedé muy bien en la entrevista. = I made a great impression at the interview.
• Quedó fatal con su jefa. = She made a terrible impression on her boss.
• No quiero quedar mal delante de sus padres. = I do not want to look bad in front of his parents.
• El regalo quedó fenomenal — todos quedaron encantados. = The gift went down a treat — everyone was delighted.
• Quedé como un tonto cuando pregunté eso. = I came across as an idiot when I asked that.
• Si no vas a la boda, vas a quedar muy mal. = If you do not go to the wedding, it will look very bad.

Meaning 7: Quedar en + infinitive — to agree to do something

Quedar en + infinitive expresses a prior agreement — two or more people agreed to do something. It is stronger than simply arranging a time (meaning 4) because it emphasises the content of the agreement, not just that a plan was made. The closest English translation is 'to agree to' or 'to plan to.'

• Quedamos en vernos el lunes. = We agreed to see each other on Monday.
• ¿No habíamos quedado en llamarnos? = Hadn't we agreed to call each other?
• Quedaron en no decírselo a nadie. = They agreed not to tell anyone.
• Quedamos en que tú pondrías la bebida. = We agreed that you would bring the drinks.
• ¿En qué quedamos? = What did we agree on? / What is the plan?

Meaning 8: Quedar por + infinitive — still to be done

Quedar por + infinitive describes something that still needs to be done or has not yet been completed. It is the equivalent of 'yet to do' or 'still needs doing.' This construction often appears in project contexts, to-do lists, and when counting what remains before a goal is reached.

• Queda por terminar el informe. = The report is still to be finished.
• Queda mucho por hacer. = There is still a lot to do.
• Solo queda por firmar el contrato. = All that remains is to sign the contract.
• Quedan varios temas por revisar. = Several topics still need to be reviewed.
• Nos queda por visitar Granada. = Granada is still on our list to visit.
• ¿Qué queda por resolver? = What still needs to be resolved?

Quedar vs Quedarse: the pair you must know

Quedar and quedarse look almost identical — the difference is the reflexive pronoun that quedarse carries. But their meanings diverge significantly. Quedar covers the eight meanings above. Quedarse means 'to stay,' 'to remain in place,' or 'to keep.' The pair appears constantly in Spanish conversation and the difference is not optional — getting it wrong changes what you said.

Quedarse also has its own family of expressions worth learning separately: quedarse sin (to run out of — me quedé sin batería, my phone died), quedarse con (to keep — me quedo con este), quedarse dormido (to fall asleep), quedarse helado (to freeze with shock), and quedarse con alguien (colloquially in Spain, to pull someone's leg). Full conjugation tables for both verbs are at /spanish-verbs/quedar-conjugation/ and /spanish-verbs/quedarse-conjugation/.

All 8 meanings at a glance

Common errors with quedar

• Wrong: 'Me queda bien esos pantalones.' → Correct: 'Me quedan bien esos pantalones.' The verb agrees with the trousers (plural), not with me.
• Wrong: 'Quedamos que llamar a las diez.' → Correct: 'Quedamos en llamar a las diez.' The preposition en is required before the infinitive.
• Wrong: 'Me quedo con mis padres esta tarde' intending 'I am meeting my parents this afternoon.' → Correct: 'He quedado con mis padres esta tarde.' Quedarse = to stay with; quedar con = to arrange to meet.
• Wrong: Thinking quedar mal can only describe a physical outcome — it overwhelmingly describes social impression. Quedé mal en la reunión means I made a bad impression at the meeting, not that a meeting ended badly.
• Ambiguity note: 'Queda mucho por hacer' (much remains to be done — impersonal) versus 'Me queda mucho por hacer' (I have a lot still to do — personal). Both are correct; the indirect object pronoun adds the personal dimension.

Practice: quedar in context

Keep practising with MuyVerbs

The eight meanings of quedar become natural once you have seen each one in enough real sentences. The key is to treat them as eight separate vocabulary items sharing one spelling — not as variations on a single meaning — and to build a clean habit distinguishing quedar from quedarse. MuyVerbs drills quedar across all its uses in the quiz and learning path, with full conjugation tables for both quedar and quedarse across all 18 Spanish tenses at /spanish-verbs/quedar-conjugation/ and /spanish-verbs/quedarse-conjugation/.

For a deeper look at how Spanish verbs split into reflexive and non-reflexive pairs — quedar/quedarse, poner/ponerse, ir/irse, hacer/hacerse — visit /blog/reflexive-verbs-spanish-guide/. The 3,015-verb library covers every conjugated form so you can look up any quedar or quedarse form the moment you encounter it.