Permanecer Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

permanecer means to remain, to stay, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Permanecer means to remain or to stay, and it is used for remaining at home, remaining silent and remaining in a hotel for another week. It is a formal synonym of quedarse, and it is a -cer spelling-change verb. This page puts permanecer to work: twelve example sentences in different tenses and persons, grouped by use, then two short dialogues where the verb appears naturally, then the common mistakes to avoid, and finally a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every Spanish form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for permanecer, and the full tables are on the permanecer conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo permanezco en casa todo el día. — I remain at home all day.
  2. Él permanece en silencio durante la reunión. — He/she remains silent during the meeting.
  3. Ayer, yo permanecí en el hotel una semana más. — Yesterday, I remained in the hotel one more week.
  4. Antes, nosotros permanecíamos sentado junto a la ventana. — Before, we used to remain seated by the window.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú permanecerás en casa todo el día. — Tomorrow, you will remain at home all day.
  2. Yo permanecería en silencio durante la reunión. — I would remain silent during the meeting.
  3. Él ha permanecido en el hotel una semana más. — He/she has remained in the hotel one more week.
  4. Espero que él permanezca sentado junto a la ventana. — I hope he/she remains seated by the window.

With other people

  1. Nosotros permanecemos en casa todo el día. — We remain at home all day.
  2. Vosotros permanecéis en silencio durante la reunión. — You all remain silent during the meeting.
  3. Antes, ellos permanecían en el hotel una semana más. — Before, they used to remain in the hotel one more week.
  4. Mañana, él permanecerá sentado junto a la ventana. — Tomorrow, he/she will remain seated by the window.

Permanecer in context

Two short dialogues that use permanecer the way people really use it. Read them aloud — the verb forms will stick much faster in a conversation than in a table.

Dialogue 1: today and yesterday

  • Ana: "Hola, ¿qué tal?" — "Hello, how are you?"
  • Luis: "Hoy permanezco en casa todo el día." — "Today I remain at home all day."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, permanecí en el hotel una semana más." — "Yesterday I remained in the hotel one more week."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú permanecerás en silencio durante la reunión?" — "And tomorrow, will you will remain silent during the meeting?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros permanecemos sentado junto a la ventana." — "Tomorrow we remain seated by the window."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo permanecería en silencio durante la reunión si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would remain silent during the meeting if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él permanezca en casa todo el día." — "I hope he remains at home all day."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha permanecido en el hotel una semana más." — "Surely. He has already has remained in the hotel one more week."
  • Marta: "Vale, nos vemos mañana." — "OK, see you tomorrow."

Notice how the same verb changes with the tense: the present for the plan, the conditional for the wish, the subjunctive after espero que, and the present perfect for what has already happened. That is the whole point of learning a verb across its tenses, not just in one form.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo permanece en casa todo el día. — Right: Yo permanezco en casa todo el día. — The person matters: permanece is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is permanezco. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo permaneco en silencio durante la reunión. — Right: Yo permanezco en silencio durante la reunión. — In the present, the correct first-person form is permanezco, not permaneco. permanecer is a spelling-change verb: c becomes zc before o and a, so the written form changes to keep the same sound. The regular-looking form is wrong.
  3. Wrong: Treating permanecer and quedarse as identical in every context. — Right: Permanecer means to remain, to stay, while quedarse means to stay, the everyday verb. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: permanecer fits sentences such as Permanezco en casa todo el día, while quedarse belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy permanecido en silencio durante la reunión. — Right: Yo he permanecido en silencio durante la reunión. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he permanecido, has permanecido, ha permanecido. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo permanecí en el hotel una semana más todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo permanecía en el hotel una semana más todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (permanecía), not the preterite. The preterite (permanecí) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on permanecer: four on the forms, three on the meaning, and three on spotting the correct sentence. Check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ en casa todo el día. (present tense) A. permanezco B. permaneces C. permanece D. permanecemos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ en silencio durante la reunión. (preterite tense) A. permanecí B. permaneciste C. permanecimos D. permaneció

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ en el hotel una semana más. (future tense) A. permanecerá B. permaneceremos C. permanecerás D. permaneceré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ sentado junto a la ventana. (imperfect tense) A. permanecíais B. permanecíamos C. permanecía D. permanecías

  5. What does "Yo permanezco en casa todo el día." mean in English? A. I remain at home all day. B. I remain silent during the meeting. C. I remain in the hotel one more week. D. I remain seated by the window.

  6. What does "Él permaneció en silencio durante la reunión." mean in English? A. He/she remained at home all day. B. He/she remained in the hotel one more week. C. He/she remained seated by the window. D. He/she remained silent during the meeting.

  7. What does "Nosotros permaneceremos en el hotel una semana más." mean in English? A. We will remain silent during the meeting. B. We will remain seated by the window. C. We will remain in the hotel one more week. D. We will remain at home all day.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo permaneco en silencio durante la reunión. B. Yo permanece en silencio durante la reunión. C. Yo permanezco en silencio durante la reunión.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él permanecí en el hotel una semana más. B. Él permaneció en el hotel una semana más. C. Él permanecieron en el hotel una semana más.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo permanezca sentado junto a la ventana. B. Yo permaneca sentado junto a la ventana. C. Yo permanezca sentado junto a la ventana.

Answer key

  1. permanezco — The yo present form of permanecer is permanezco.
  2. permaneció — The el preterite form of permanecer is permaneció.
  3. permanecerás — The tu future form of permanecer is permanecerás.
  4. permanecíamos — The nosotros imperfect form of permanecer is permanecíamos.
  5. I remain at home all day. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form permanezco, so the English is "I remain at home all day." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she remained silent during the meeting. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form permaneció, so the English is "He/she remained silent during the meeting." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will remain in the hotel one more week. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form permaneceremos, so the English is "We will remain in the hotel one more week." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo permanezco en silencio durante la reunión. — The correct sentence is "Yo permanezco en silencio durante la reunión." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él permaneció en el hotel una semana más. — The correct sentence is "Él permaneció en el hotel una semana más." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo permanezca sentado junto a la ventana. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo permanezca sentado junto a la ventana." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

What does permanecer mean, and when do I use it?

Permanecer means to remain, to stay. Permanecer means to remain or to stay, and it is used for remaining at home, remaining silent and remaining in a hotel for another week. It is a formal synonym of quedarse, and it is a -cer spelling-change verb. A good first sentence to remember is Yo permanezco en casa todo el día. — "I remain at home all day."

What is the difference between permanecer and quedarse?

Permanecer means to remain, to stay, while quedarse means to stay, the everyday verb. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use permanecer when you mean to remain, to stay, as in Yo permanezco en silencio durante la reunión., and use quedarse for to stay, the everyday verb.

How do I say "I remain" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo permanecí en silencio durante la reunión.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo permanecía en el hotel una semana más.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he permanecido en silencio durante la reunión..

How do I practise permanecer?

Start with the permanecer conjugation page for the full tables, then the permanecer in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Spelling change: c becomes zc before o and a, so yo permanezco and the subjunctive permanezca. It is more formal than quedarse.

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