sentirse/encontrarse/quedarse
Feelings and States with Pronominal Verbs
Sentirse describes how you feel, encontrarse can describe your condition, and quedarse can describe remaining in or entering a resulting state. Match me/te/se/nos/os/se to the subject.
How It Works
These verbs use a matching pronoun in the state constructions taught here. This is a pronominal pattern, not necessarily a literal reflexive action.
Let's look at the most common ones:
1. Sentirse (to feel)
With sentirse, an adjective such as triste, feliz or cansado describes how you feel; bien and mal are also common.
Note: sentirse is a stem-changing verb (e → ie) in the present tense.
- Yo me siento
- Tú te sientes
- Él/Ella/Usted se siente
- Nosotros/as nos sentimos
- Vosotros/as os sentís
- Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes se sienten
2. Encontrarse (to find oneself / to feel)
In questions about well-being, encontrarse can overlap with sentirse. It also describes being in a situation or location, so the verbs are not interchangeable in every use.
- ¿Cómo te encuentras hoy? - How are you feeling today?
- Me encuentro un poco enfermo. - I feel a little sick.
3. Quedarse (to be left / to remain)
This verb describes a change of state or the resulting state after an event. It means "to be left" or "to remain" in a certain condition.
- Siempre me quedo sorprendido. - I'm always left surprised.
- Después de la película, los niños se quedan asustados. - After the movie, the children are left scared.
Compare Siento tristeza (I feel sadness) with Me siento triste (I feel sad). Sentir without se can name an internal emotion or a physical sensation as its object; the contrast is not external versus internal. Adjectives agree with the subject, but adverbs do not: Nos sentimos cansadas, Nos sentimos bien.
Examples (5)
- Hoy me siento muy feliz.
I feel very happy today.
Word by Word: Today myself I-feel very happy.
- ¿Cómo te encuentras después de la operación?
How are you feeling after the surgery?
Word by Word: How yourself you-find after of the surgery?
- Los estudiantes se quedan callados cuando entra el profesor.
The students become quiet when the teacher enters.
Word by Word: The students themselves they-remain quiet when enters the teacher.
Quedarsehere indicates the resulting state (being quiet) after an event (the teacher entering). - Nos sentimos un poco cansadas.
We feel a little tired.
Word by Word: Ourselves we-feel a little tired (fem.).
Notice how the adjective
cansadasis feminine and plural to agree with a female 'we'. - Mi abuelo no se encuentra muy bien hoy.
My grandfather isn't feeling very well today.
Word by Word: My grandfather not himself he-finds very well today.
Common Mistakes
Forgetting the reflexive pronoun.
Siento triste.Me siento triste.For this adjective pattern, use the pronominal form me siento triste. Sentir without the pronoun instead takes an object in Siento tristeza.
Confusing sentir + a noun with sentirse + an adjective or adverb.
Me siento el calor.Siento el calor.Siento el calor names the sensation as an object. Me siento acalorado describes how the subject feels. Sentir can also take an emotion as its object, such as Siento alegría, so external versus internal is not the rule.
Using soy cansado for the intended meaning I feel tired.
Soy cansado.Me siento cansado. / Estoy cansado.To describe your tired condition, say Estoy cansado or Me siento cansado. Ser cansado can instead characterize someone as tiresome in some usage. Ser versus estar is not a universal permanent-versus-temporary division.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To use these verbs, you must first understand how reflexive pronouns work and how to conjugate reflexive verbs. Additionally, since these verbs describe feelings and states, familiarity with using 'estar' with adjectives provides the conceptual context for expressing conditions.
- -arse/-erse/-irseReflexive Verb Forms
Understanding how to conjugate reflexive verbs in the present tense is essential for using sentirse, encontrarse, and quedarse.
Level 1 - estar + AdjectiveEstar for Conditions
These verbs function similarly to 'estar' when describing temporary states and emotions, providing the necessary conceptual foundation.
Level 1
Related Patterns
- me/te/se/nos/os/seReflexive Pronouns
These pronoun forms match the subject in the state constructions. Their presence does not make every such verb literally reflexive.
Level 1 - e→ieStem-Changing Verbs E→IE
Level 1Sentirsefollows this exact stem-changing pattern in the present tense (siento, sientes, siente). Understanding this helps with correct conjugation. - Adjective Agreement
The adjectives used after these verbs (e.g., cansado/a, feliz/felices) must agree in gender and number with the subject, just like in other constructions.
Foundations - ser / estarSer vs. Estar Basics
Estar describes a condition in Estoy cansado; sentirse describes the experienced state in Me siento cansado. Do not reduce ser versus estar to a rule about how long the condition lasts.
Level 1
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice sentirse/encontrarse/quedarse in Bubblegum
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