The preterite of quedarse is used to express when you stayed somewhere at a specific moment in the past. For example, “I stayed at my friend’s house last night” – “Me quedé en casa de mi amigo anoche.”

This is a regular -ar reflexive verb in the preterite tense. It follows the standard conjugation pattern with the addition of reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os, se).

Conjugations

Conjugations of Quedarse (to stay) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The Preterite of quedarse expresses completed actions of staying or remaining.

To stay/remain: Describes choosing or being made to stay somewhere, for example Me quedé en casa todo el día (I stayed at home all day), or Se quedaron hasta el final (They stayed until the end).

To end up/be left with: Indicates final state or possession, for example Se quedó sin dinero (He was left without money).

Examples

Examples of Quedarse in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Me quedé en casa todo el día. (I stayed at home all day.)

Te quedaste dormido durante la película. (You fell asleep during the movie.)

Se quedó sin palabras al ver la sorpresa. (He was left speechless seeing the surprise.)

Nos quedamos hasta el final de la fiesta. (We stayed until the end of the party.)

Se quedaron sin gasolina en la carretera. (They ran out of gas on the highway.)

Me quedé sorprendido por la noticia. (I was surprised by the news.)

¿Por qué te quedaste callado? (Why did you stay quiet?)

Se quedó trabajando hasta tarde. (He stayed working late.)

Nos quedamos con ganas de más. (We were left wanting more.)

Se quedaron mirando el atardecer. (They stayed watching the sunset.)

Me quedé sin dinero a fin de mes. (I ran out of money at the end of the month.)

Te quedaste con mi libro favorito. (You kept my favorite book.)

Se quedó pensando en lo sucedido. (He stayed thinking about what happened.)

Nos quedamos helados al escuchar la noticia. (We were frozen when we heard the news.)

Se quedaron a dormir en nuestra casa. (They stayed to sleep at our house.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Quedarse (to stay) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.