Quedarse Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The Spanish verb quedarse means to stay, and this page covers it in the present tense — the tense for habits, facts and what is happening now. If you want the whole picture, start with the full quedarse conjugation, which has every tense on one page. Here we go deep on one tense only: the full table, how it is formed, when to use it, how it differs from the closest tense, examples, the mistakes learners actually make, a quiz and answers to the questions people ask most. One example to start: Yo me quedo en casa. — "I stay at home."

No pronunciation is given on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for quedarse, so no pronunciation is shown rather than an invented one. All the forms below come from the verified conjugation tables, so you can trust every form you see here.

quedarse is reflexive, so every form below is shown with its reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se). The pronoun is part of the verb, not an optional extra.

The quedarse present tense table

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for quedarse. The gerund is quedando and the past participle is quedado.

Person Pronoun Form
yo me quedo
tú te quedas
él/ella/Ud. se queda
nosotros/as nos quedamos
vosotros/as os quedáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se quedan

The gerund quedando is used with estar for the progressive (estoy quedando, I am staying), and the past participle quedado is used with haber for the perfect tenses (he quedado, I have stayed).

How the present tense of quedarse is formed

Start with the infinitive quedar. Take off the -ar ending and you are left with the stem qued-. Then add the present endings for -ar verbs: -o (yo), -as (tú), -a (él/ella/Ud.), -amos (nosotros/as), -áis (vosotros/as) and -an (ellos/ellas/Uds.). That gives you the six forms in the table above, and for most verbs in this group that is the whole story.

quedarse is regular in the present: every form is exactly the stem plus the ending above, with no stem change and no spelling change. If you know the stem and the six endings, you can build the whole tense without memorising anything extra.

quedarse is reflexive, so every form needs its reflexive pronoun in front of it: me, te, se, nos, os, se, matching the person. In the table above the pronoun is shown in its own column, and in a sentence it goes before the conjugated verb: Me quedo en casa.. Do not drop the pronoun: without it, you are talking about a different verb. In the infinitive the pronoun is attached to the end (quedarse), and in the gerund it can go before the auxiliary or attached to the gerund: estoy quedando or quedándome.

Two details are worth fixing early. First, the vosotros form carries a written accent on the ending: quedáis. Second, the present tense in Spanish has no auxiliary verb: me quedo on its own means both "I stay" and "I am staying" in English, so you do not need a separate word for the progressive unless you want to stress that something is happening right now.

When to use the present tense of quedarse

Habits and routines

The present is the tense of what you do regularly. Talking about staying somewhere: at home, in a city, in a hotel, all day.

  • Yo me quedo en casa. — "I stay at home."
  • Tú te quedas en Madrid. — "you stay in Madrid."

Facts and general truths

The present also states facts that are true in general, not just today. Talking about staying with friends or family instead of going out.

  • Él se queda con mis amigos. — "he/she stays with my friends."
  • Nosotros nos quedamos en el hotel. — "we stay in the hotel."

What is happening now

The present describes what is happening at this moment. Talking about staying asleep or staying put, the other common uses of quedarse.

  • Vosotros os quedáis todo el día. — "you (all) stay all day."
  • Ellos se quedan a dormir. — "they stay to sleep."

Plans in the near future

Spanish also uses the present for fixed plans in the near future, especially with a time expression. A plan you have already decided on can be stated in the present, and it sounds more certain than the future tense.

  • Él se queda con mis amigos. — "he/she stays with my friends."
  • Nosotros nos quedamos en el hotel. — "we stay in the hotel."

Quedarse present vs present progressive

The present tense and the present progressive (estar + gerund) are close neighbours, and learners mix them up. The present describes a habit, a fact or a routine. The progressive describes something in progress right now, at this very moment. Compare the three pairs below: the first sentence in each pair is a habit, the second is happening now.

  • Present (habit): Yo me quedo en casa. — "I stay at home."

  • Progressive (right now): Yo estoy quedando en casa. — "I am staying at home."

  • Present (habit): Tú te quedas en Madrid. — "you stay in Madrid."

  • Progressive (right now): Tú estás quedando en Madrid. — "you are staying in Madrid."

  • Present (habit): Él se queda con mis amigos. — "he/she stays with my friends."

  • Progressive (right now): Él está quedando con mis amigos. — "he/she is staying with my friends."

Use the present when you talk about what you usually do, and the progressive when you want to stress that it is happening as you speak. If you say me quedo every day, that is a routine. If you say Estoy quedando, you are doing it at this moment.

Examples of quedarse in the present

Eight sentences in the present tense, so you can see the forms in real use. Read the Spanish first, guess the meaning, then check the translation.

  1. Me quedo en casa todo el día. — "I stay at home all day."
  2. Mis padres se quedan en Madrid con mis amigos. — "My parents stay in Madrid with my friends."
  3. Ayer me quedé en el hotel a dormir. — "Yesterday I stayed in the hotel to sleep."
  4. De niña, me quedaba en casa de mi abuela los veranos. — "As a girl, I used to stay at my grandmother's house in the summers."
  5. Mañana me quedaré en casa para estudiar. — "Tomorrow I will stay at home to study."
  6. Si pudiera, me quedaría en Madrid todo el verano. — "If I could, I would stay in Madrid all summer."
  7. Él se queda todo el día. — "he/she stays all day."
  8. Nosotros nos quedamos a dormir. — "we stay to sleep."

Common mistakes with quedarse in the present

These are the errors learners actually make with this verb. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why it is wrong.

1. Yo quedo en casa.

Wrong: Yo quedo en casa.

Right: Yo me quedo en casa.

Quedarse is reflexive: the pronoun me is part of the meaning. Quedo on its own means something else, like to agree on a time or to be left over.

2. Me queda en casa.

Wrong: Me queda en casa.

Right: Me quedo en casa.

Me pairs with the yo form quedo. Queda is the él/ella form, so me queda mixes two people.

3. Dropping the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: Yo quedo en casa.

Right: Me quedo en casa.

Without the pronoun you are using the non-reflexive verb, which means something else. The pronoun is part of quedarse: me quedo.

4. Using the present for a finished past action

Wrong: Ayer yo me quedo en casa.

Right: Ayer yo me quedé en casa.

Ayer (yesterday) signals a finished action, so it needs the preterite: me quedé. The present me quedo describes what you do now or usually, not what you did yesterday.

5. Forgetting the accent on the vosotros form

Wrong: Vosotros quedais en casa.

Right: Vosotros quedáis en casa.

The vosotros ending carries a written accent: quedáis. Without it, the spelling is wrong, even though the pronunciation is close.

Quiz: test yourself on quedarse in the present

Choose the right form for each sentence. The answers are at the end of this section, with an explanation for every question.

  1. Yo ___ en casa
    • a) me quedo
    • b) te quedas
    • c) se queda
    • d) nos quedamos
  2. Tú ___ en Madrid
    • a) me quedo
    • b) se queda
    • c) nos quedamos
    • d) te quedas
  3. Él ___ con mis amigos
    • a) te quedas
    • b) nos quedamos
    • c) se queda
    • d) me quedo
  4. Nosotros ___ en el hotel
    • a) se queda
    • b) nos quedamos
    • c) me quedo
    • d) te quedas
  5. Vosotros ___ todo el día
    • a) os quedáis
    • b) me quedo
    • c) te quedas
    • d) se queda
  6. Ellos ___ a dormir
    • a) me quedo
    • b) te quedas
    • c) se queda
    • d) se quedan
  7. Yo ___ en casa
    • a) se queda
    • b) nos quedamos
    • c) me quedo
    • d) te quedas
  8. Tú ___ en Madrid
    • a) nos quedamos
    • b) te quedas
    • c) me quedo
    • d) se queda

Answers

  1. a) me quedo — The sentence needs the yo form, because the subject is yo.
  2. d) te quedas — The sentence needs the tú form, because the subject is tú.
  3. c) se queda — The sentence needs the él/ella/Ud. form, because the subject is él/ella/Ud..
  4. b) nos quedamos — The sentence needs the nosotros/as form, because the subject is nosotros/as.
  5. a) os quedáis — The sentence needs the vosotros/as form, because the subject is vosotros/as.
  6. d) se quedan — The sentence needs the ellos/ellas/Uds. form, because the subject is ellos/ellas/Uds..
  7. c) me quedo — The sentence needs the yo form, because the subject is yo.
  8. b) te quedas — The sentence needs the tú form, because the subject is tú.

Frequently asked questions about quedarse in the present

What is the difference between quedar and quedarse?

Quedar means to agree on a meeting or to be left over: quedamos a las ocho, we agree to meet at eight. Quedarse means to stay: me quedo en casa, I stay at home. The pronoun -se changes the meaning.

Is quedarse regular?

Yes, it is a regular -ar reflexive verb: me quedo, te quedas, se queda, nos quedamos, os quedáis, se quedan.

Is quedarse regular in the present?

Yes. quedarse is regular in the present: the six forms are the stem qued- plus the regular endings, with no stem change. The only thing to watch is the written accent on the stressed endings, for example quedo.

What are the gerund and the past participle of quedarse?

The gerund is quedando, used with estar for the progressive (estoy quedando), and the past participle is quedado, used with haber for the perfect tenses (he quedado).

How to remember quedarse

Four small habits will fix quedarse in your memory. First, say the present tense out loud, in order, three times: me quedo, te quedas, se queda, nos quedamos, os quedáis, se quedan. Saying the forms is far more effective than reading them silently, because you hear the endings and the stem at the same time. Second, write three sentences about your own life: one about today with the present (me quedo), one about yesterday with the preterite (me quedé), and one about tomorrow with the future (me quedaré). Personal sentences stick because they are about you, not about a textbook. Third, remember the difference from estar: Quedarse is staying in a place; estar is being in a place. Estoy en casa describes where you are; me quedo en casa describes the decision to stay there. Finally, learn the two key forms by heart: the gerund quedando and the past participle quedado. With those two and the present tense, you can already build the progressive (estoy quedando) and the present perfect (he quedado), which covers most everyday conversation.

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