quedar + Participle

Quedar with Participle

Level 4

quedar + participle describes the resulting state after an action.

How It Works

The structure quedar + participle is a powerful way to describe the result or consequence of an action, focusing on the final state of the subject.

Formula:
Subject + quedar (conjugated) + Past Participle (agrees in gender & number)

The key difference between estar + participle and quedar + participle lies in emphasis.

  • Estar + participle describes a current state without necessarily mentioning how it came to be. La puerta está cerrada. (The door is closed.)
  • Quedar + participle highlights that the state is a result of a previous event or action. La puerta quedó cerrada después de la tormenta. (The door was left closed after the storm.)

This structure implies a change of state. The subject was one way, something happened, and now it has been left in a new state.

Participle Agreement
Crucially, the past participle functions as an adjective and must agree with the subject in gender and number:

  • El problema quedó resuelto. (The problem was left resolved.)
  • La casa quedó limpia. (The house was left clean.)
  • Los documentos quedaron firmados. (The documents were left signed.)
  • Las ventanas quedaron abiertas. (The windows were left open.)

The verb quedar can be conjugated in any tense to place the resulting state in the past, present, or future.

Examples (5)

  1. Después de la fiesta, la habitación quedó desordenada.

    After the party, the room was left messy.

    Word by Word: After of the party, the room remained messy.

    The participle desordenada (messy) is feminine singular to agree with the subject la habitación.

  2. Quedé muy sorprendida con los resultados del examen.

    I was very surprised by the exam results.

    Word by Word: I remained very surprised with the results of the exam.

    Here, sorprendida is feminine because the speaker is female. If the speaker were male, it would be sorprendido.

  3. Los niños quedaron dormidos en el sofá.

    The children fell asleep (were left asleep) on the sofa.

    Word by Word: The children remained asleep on the sofa.

  4. La pared quedó pintada de azul.

    The wall was left painted blue.

    Word by Word: The wall remained painted of blue.

  5. Tras la reunión, quedó decidido que empezaríamos el lunes.

    After the meeting, it was decided that we would start on Monday.

    Word by Word: After the meeting, it remained decided that we would start on Monday.

    This is an impersonal use where the subject is the clause que empezaríamos el lunes. The participle decidido remains in its default masculine singular form.

Common Mistakes

  • Forgetting to make the participle agree in gender and number.

    Las puertas quedaron abierto.
    Las puertas quedaron abiertas.

    The participle must agree with the subject. Since las puertas is feminine and plural, the participle must be abiertas.

  • Using quedar when you simply state a regular condition.

    Different MeaningLa tienda queda cerrada los domingos.
    La tienda está cerrada los domingos.

    La tienda queda cerrada los domingos is grammatical: quedar means the store stays closed. Está cerrada is the plain statement of the state, while quedó cerrada after an event says it was left closed.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

quedar + ParticipleLevel 4Quedar with Participle

Learn This First

To learn 'quedar + participle', a learner first needs to be proficient in forming both regular and irregular past participles. Additionally, they should understand the concept of 'resultant states' (previously learned with 'estar') because 'quedar' functions similarly but adds a nuance of the state being the final outcome of a process.

Words in This Pattern

quedar