Quedar

Quedar is a very common Spanish verb with several different meanings. Instead of learning them all at once, focus on the uses that are most useful at your current level.

A1 — Essential uses

At A1, focus on location and making plans with someone.

1. Be located

Use quedar to say where a place is located.

• ¿Dónde queda el baño? — Where is the bathroom?
• El hotel queda cerca de la estación. — The hotel is near the station.
• ¿Queda lejos de aquí? — Is it far from here?

For beginners, you can think of:

¿Dónde queda…? = Where is…?

You can also use estar for location:

• ¿Dónde está el baño?
• ¿Dónde queda el baño?

Both are natural.

2. Arrange to meet someone

Quedar con alguien means to arrange to meet / meet up with someone.

• He quedado con Ana. — I’ve arranged to meet Ana.
• ¿Quieres quedar mañana? — Do you want to meet up tomorrow?
• Quedamos a las ocho. — Let’s meet at eight. / We’re meeting at eight.
• ¿Dónde quedamos? — Where shall we meet?

This use is especially common in Spain.

A2 — Common everyday uses

At A2, learn quedar for things that remain and for how clothes fit or look.

3. Be left / remain

Use quedar to talk about what is still available or remains.

• Quedan dos días. — There are two days left.
• Solo queda un poco de leche. — There’s only a little milk left.
• No queda pan. — There’s no bread left.
• ¿Cuánto tiempo queda? — How much time is left?

Notice that quedar agrees with what remains:

• Queda un día.
• Quedan dos días.

4. Fit or look on someone

Use quedar + adjective + indirect object pronoun to describe how clothes or accessories fit or look on someone.

• Esta camiseta me queda bien. — This T-shirt looks good on me / fits me well.
• Estos pantalones me quedan grandes. — These trousers are too big for me.
• Ese color te queda muy bien. — That color looks really good on you.
• La chaqueta me queda pequeña. — The jacket is too small for me.

Common combinations include:

• quedar bien / mal — look good / bad
• quedar grande — be too big
• quedar pequeño — be too small

B1 — Results and changes

At B1, quedar becomes useful for describing the result of an action or situation.

5. End up / turn out

Quedar + adjective can describe how something turns out after an action.

• La comida quedó muy buena. — The food turned out really good.
• La habitación quedó limpia. — The room was left clean.
• El pelo te quedó genial. — Your hair turned out great.
• La foto quedó un poco oscura. — The photo came out a little dark.

Here, quedar focuses on the resulting state.

6. Quedarse — stay / remain

The reflexive form quedarse commonly means to stay somewhere rather than leave.

• Me quedo en casa hoy. — I’m staying home today.
• Nos quedamos en un hotel. — We stayed at a hotel.
• ¿Te quedas aquí? — Are you staying here?
• Quédate conmigo. — Stay with me.

This distinction is useful:

• Quedamos a las ocho. — We’re meeting at eight.
• Nos quedamos hasta las ocho. — We’re staying until eight.

What should I learn first?

A1:
¿Dónde queda…? → Where is…?quedar con alguien → arrange to meet / meet up

A2:
queda / quedan → be left / remainme queda bien / grande / pequeño → fit or look on someone

B1:
quedar + adjective → turn out / be left in a statequedarse → stay / remain

Quedar has many other uses and fixed expressions, but these meanings cover the most useful everyday situations for A1–B1 learners.