Confusing 'dejar' and 'salir'

Think of 'dejar' as setting something down and walking away from it. Whether it's your keys on the counter or a friend at the train station, you are 'leaving' them in that place.

Leaving things behind

Extremely common. This is one of the first meanings you'll learn and use daily.

When you want to say you 'let' someone do something, use this simple recipe: 'dejar' + the person + the action verb in its original '-ar', '-er', or '-ir' form. For example: 'Ella me deja usar su coche' (She lets me use her car).

The 'dejar + action' pattern

A friendly and natural way to offer help is by starting your sentence with 'Déjame...' which means 'Let me...'. For example: 'Déjame ayudarte con eso' (Let me help you with that).

Use 'Déjame...' to offer help

Just as common as 'to leave'. You'll hear this constantly in conversations about permission.

Forgetting 'de'

To talk about stopping an activity, you always need the little word 'de' after 'dejar'. The recipe is: 'dejar de' + the action verb in its original '-ar', '-er', or '-ir' form. 'Dejo de trabajar' (I stop working).

The 'dejar de + action' pattern

Very common for talking about habits and resolutions.

Use this structure to talk about how something made you feel: 'Something' + 'me/te/le dejó' + a word describing the feeling. For example, 'La película me dejó triste' (The movie left me sad).

The 'dejar + feeling' pattern

A common way to describe the effect something has on you.

Using 'dejar' to say 'borrow'

The easiest and most common way to ask to borrow something is to ask someone to lend it to you. Just say: '¿Me dejas...?' ('Can you let me have...?'). For example, '¿Me dejas tu coche?' (Can I borrow your car?).

Asking to borrow things

Common in daily interactions, especially when asking for things.

Learn all meanings of the Spanish verb 'dejar': to leave, let, allow, stop, quit, and lend. See full conjugation charts, examples, and common mistakes.

dejar

Complete Conjugation Tables

🔄 Conjugations

indicative

present

preterite

imperfect

future

conditional

subjunctive

present

imperfect

imperative

affirmative

negative

Practice Conjugations