Quedar Conjugation in Spanish
quedar means “stay” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 18 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for remaining or being left, for meeting someone at a place and time, and for being located. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of quedar — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo quedo en casa todos los días.” — “I stay at home every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: quedar
- English: to stay
- Verb type: Regular -ar verb
- Irregular in: no tense — fully regular
- Gerund: quedando
- Past participle: quedado
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for quedar. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | quedo |
| tú | quedas |
| él/ella/Ud. | queda |
| nosotros/as | quedamos |
| vosotros/as | quedáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | quedan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | quedé |
| tú | quedaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | quedó |
| nosotros/as | quedamos |
| vosotros/as | quedasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | quedaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | quedaba |
| tú | quedabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | quedaba |
| nosotros/as | quedábamos |
| vosotros/as | quedabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | quedaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | quedaré |
| tú | quedarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | quedará |
| nosotros/as | quedaremos |
| vosotros/as | quedaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | quedarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | quedaría |
| tú | quedarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | quedaría |
| nosotros/as | quedaríamos |
| vosotros/as | quedaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | quedarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he quedado |
| tú | has quedado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha quedado |
| nosotros/as | hemos quedado |
| vosotros/as | habéis quedado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han quedado |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había quedado |
| tú | habías quedado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había quedado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos quedado |
| vosotros/as | habíais quedado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían quedado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré quedado |
| tú | habrás quedado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá quedado |
| nosotros/as | habremos quedado |
| vosotros/as | habréis quedado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán quedado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría quedado |
| tú | habrías quedado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría quedado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos quedado |
| vosotros/as | habríais quedado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían quedado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | quede |
| tú | quedes |
| él/ella/Ud. | quede |
| nosotros/as | quedemos |
| vosotros/as | quedéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | queden |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | quedara |
| tú | quedaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | quedara |
| nosotros/as | quedáramos |
| vosotros/as | quedarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | quedaran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | queda |
| él/ella/Ud. | quede |
| nosotros/as | quedemos |
| vosotros/as | quedad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | queden |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | quedes |
| él/ella/Ud. | quede |
| nosotros/as | quedemos |
| vosotros/as | quedéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | queden |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | quedando |
| Past participle | quedado |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo quedo en casa todos los días.” — “I stay at home every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú quedaste con amigos ayer.” — “You stayed with friends yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él quedaba lejos de aquí antes.” — “He used to stay far from here before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo quedaré en casa mañana.” — “I will stay at home tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú quedarías con amigos algún día.” — “You would stay with friends someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha quedado lejos de aquí esta semana.” — “He has stayed far from here this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había quedado en casa antes de la fiesta.” — “I had stayed at home before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás quedado con amigos para mañana.” — “You will have stayed with friends by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría quedado lejos de aquí ayer.” — “He would have stayed far from here yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo quede en casa.” — “It is important that i stay at home.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. For example: “Ojalá tú quedaras con amigos.” — “I wish you stayed with friends.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of quedar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Queda lejos de aquí!” — “Stay far from here!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of quedar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No quedes en casa.” — “Do not stay at home.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with quedar, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo quedo en casa todos los días.” — “I stay at home every day.”
- “Tú quedaste con amigos ayer.” — “You stayed with friends yesterday.”
- “Él quedaba lejos de aquí antes.” — “He used to stay far from here before.”
- “Yo quedaré con amigos mañana.” — “I will stay with friends tomorrow.”
- “Tú quedarías en casa algún día.” — “You would stay at home someday.”
- “Él ha quedado lejos de aquí esta semana.” — “He has stayed far from here this week.”
- “Yo había quedado en casa antes de la fiesta.” — “I had stayed at home before the party.”
- “Tú habrás quedado con amigos para mañana.” — “You will have stayed with friends by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él quede lejos de aquí.” — “It is important that he stay far from here.”
- “¡Queda en casa!” — “Stay at home!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo quedar en casa.”
✓ Right: “Yo quedo en casa.”
The infinitive quedar never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form quedo.
2. Confusing quedar with estar
✗ Wrong: “Yo estoy en casa.”
✓ Right: “Yo quedo en casa.”
Quedar can mean to remain or to meet; estar is for location and state.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy quedado en casa.”
✓ Right: “Yo he quedado en casa.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle quedado.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “quede”
✓ Right: “quedé”
The accent on quedé is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Ojalá tú quedas en casa.”
✓ Right: “Ojalá tú quedes en casa.”
After ojalá Spanish needs the subjunctive, so use quedes here, not the indicative quedas.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo quedé en casa antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo quedaba en casa antes.”
The preterite quedé describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect quedaba.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on quedar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of quedar in the Present indicative?
- A) quedas
- B) queda
- C) quedamos
- D) quedo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of quedar in the Preterite?
- A) quedaste
- B) quedamos
- C) quedó
- D) quedé
What is the nosotros/as form of quedar in the Imperfect?
- A) quedabais
- B) quedábamos
- C) quedaba
- D) quedabas
What is the tú form of quedar in the Future?
- A) quedarás
- B) quedaré
- C) quedará
- D) quedaremos
What is the yo form of quedar in the Conditional?
- A) quedarías
- B) quedaríamos
- C) quedaríais
- D) quedaría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of quedar in the Present subjunctive?
- A) quedemos
- B) quedéis
- C) quede
- D) quedes
What is the yo form of quedar in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) quedarais
- B) quedara
- C) quedaras
- D) quedáramos
What is the gerund of quedar?
- A) quedando
- B) pareciendo
- C) creyendo
- D) hablando
What is the past participle of quedar?
- A) parecido
- B) creído
- C) hablado
- D) quedado
What does quedar mean in English?
- A) to believe
- B) to speak
- C) to stay
- D) to seem
Answer key
- D) quedo — the yo form of quedar in the present indicative is quedo. The other options (quedas, queda, quedamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) quedó — the él/ella/Ud. form of quedar in the preterite is quedó. The other options (quedé, quedaste, quedamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) quedábamos — the nosotros/as form of quedar in the imperfect is quedábamos. The other options (quedaba, quedabas, quedaba) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) quedarás — the tú form of quedar in the future is quedarás. The other options (quedaré, quedará, quedaremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) quedaría — the yo form of quedar in the conditional is quedaría. The other options (quedarías, quedaría, quedaríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) quede — the él/ella/Ud. form of quedar in the present subjunctive is quede. The other options (quede, quedes, quedemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) quedara — the yo form of quedar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is quedara. The other options (quedaras, quedara, quedáramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) quedando — the gerund of quedar is quedando; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) quedado — the past participle of quedar is quedado; perfect tenses use haber + quedado. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to stay — quedar means “to stay” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does quedar mean in English?
quedar means “to stay”. You use it for remaining or being left, for meeting someone at a place and time, and for being located. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is quedar regular or irregular?
quedar is regular -ar verb, with no irregular tense — it follows the regular pattern throughout. The gerund is quedando and the past participle is quedado.
What are the gerund and past participle of quedar?
The gerund is quedando — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is quedado — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he quedado (I have stayed).
What is the difference between quedar and estar?
Quedar can mean to remain or to meet; estar is for location and state. If you are unsure, check the full table for estar and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I stay” in Spanish?
Say “Yo quedo en casa.” — “I stay at home every day.” The yo form of the present is quedo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- quedar in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- quedar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Parecer conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Creer conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Hablar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise quedar with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise quedar with the interactive tool.