Forgetting the 'te'

Think of 'quédate' as two parts: 'queda' (the command 'stay') and 'te' ('you'). When you tell someone *to do* something in Spanish, these little words like 'te' get attached right to the end of the verb.

A Command + 'You'

'Quédate' is the friendly, informal way to tell one person ('tú') to stay. If you're talking to someone more formally ('usted'), you'd say 'quédese'.

Telling Who to Stay

Using 'quédate' often sounds friendly and inviting. 'Quédate a cenar' ('Stay for dinner') is a very common and warm way to invite someone to stay longer.

A Warm Invitation

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

The context tells you if 'quédate' means 'stay' or 'keep'. If someone is talking about an object (like change, a book, a pen), they almost always mean 'keep it'.

Keeping vs. Staying

When using 'quedarse' to mean 'to keep', you'll often see the word 'con' after it, as in 'quedarse con algo' (to keep something). This helps make the meaning clear.

Adding 'con'

A very common way to talk about keeping objects.

Learn the full meaning of 'quédate' in Spanish. Understand how to use it to mean 'stay' or 'keep it', see full conjugation tables for 'quedarse', and get practical examples.

quédate

Complete Conjugation Tables

🔄 Conjugations

indicative

present

preterite

imperfect

future

conditional

subjunctive

present

imperfect

imperative

affirmative

negative

Practice Conjugations