What does it mean word for word?
The verb quedar literally means "to stay" or "to remain", but in the context of making social plans, it means "to meet up" or "to agree on a time/place".
Which one should you use?
While ¿Quieres quedar? is a direct way to ask if someone wants to meet, you might use ¿Quedamos? as a shorter, very common way to suggest a meeting, functioning like "Shall we meet up?" Other variations include ¿Podríamos encontrarnos? for "Could we meet?" and ¿Tendría tiempo para reunirse? for "Would you have time to meet?"
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
You can use the conditional form ¿Le gustaría quedar? to make the request more formal or polite. Similarly, ¿Le gustaría reunirse? can be used to mean "Would you like to meet?"
How does it change in a sentence?
When asking a group of people instead of just one person, the form changes. In Spain, use ¿Queréis quedar? to say "Do you (plural) want to meet up?", whereas in Latin America, you should use ¿Quieren quedar?
Did you know?
- Beyond social plans, the verb quedar is used to describe how clothing fits, such as saying a shirt queda bien to mean it 'fits well'.
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, asking ¿Quedamos? is often interpreted as a vague social intention rather than a firm commitment until a specific time and place are decided.
- If someone says quedamos en que… during a conversation, they are not suggesting a meeting but are instead confirming that an agreement has been reached on a specific point.
Examples in context
- ¿Te gustaría quedar el viernes en el parque a las 6 p.m.?Would you like to meet on Friday at the park at 6 p.m.?
- ¿Le gustaría reunirse para discutir los detalles del proyecto?Would you like to meet to discuss the project details?
- ¿Quedamos en el centro comercial y vamos de compras?Shall we meet at the mall and go shopping?
- ¿Tendría tiempo para reunirse esta semana o la próxima?Would you have time to meet this week or next?
- ¿Quedamos este sábado si te viene bien o el próximo si prefieres?Shall we meet this Saturday if it works for you, or next if you prefer?
