me quedé sin batería
/me kede sin bateɾia/from spelling rules
The English phrase "my phone is dead" is expressed in Spanish as me quedé sin batería.
Use this phrase when a phone has no battery power left and will not turn on.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase me quedé sin batería literally translates to "I was left without battery".
Which one should you use?
Avoid using mi teléfono está muerto to describe a low battery. Although it is a literal translation of the English idiom, it is rarely used by native speakers for this purpose. Instead, use me quedé sin batería to sound natural.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Argentina, you may hear Mi celular está sin batería to mean "My cell phone is out of battery". In Mexico, someone might say Mi celular está apagado to mean "My cell phone is off".
How does it change in a sentence?
The use of the preterite form quedé indicates the specific moment the battery died or that the event of running out of power has already occurred.
Did you know?
- The word batería is a loanword from the French 'batterie', which originally referred to a set of artillery guns.
- Using the phrase mi teléfono está muerto might lead a native speaker to believe the device is physically smashed or permanently broken. It is interpreted as a state of total destruction rather than a temporary lack of power.
- In Spanish, the focus of the phrase me quedé sin batería is on the person rather than the device. While an English speaker says the 'phone' is dead, a Spanish speaker describes how 'I' was left without power.
Examples in context
- Disculpe, pero mi teléfono está descargado y necesito cargarlo. ¿Tiene algún cargador disponible?Excuse me, but my phone is dead, and I need to charge it. Do you have a charger available?
- Perdón, no te contesté porque me quedé sin batería.Sorry, I didn't answer you because my phone died.
- No pude llamarte porque me quedé sin batería.I couldn't call you because my phone died.
- Lo siento, me quedé sin batería a mitad de la película.Sorry, my phone died halfway through the movie.
- Me quedé sin batería en el metro.My phone died on the subway.
Example conversation
Mateo and Elena are meeting at a cafe, but Mateo is late.
- MateoPerdón por la tardanza, Elena.Sorry I'm late, Elena.
- Elena¿No me enviaste un mensaje?Didn't you send me a message?
- MateoNo, es que me quedé sin batería.No, it's just that my phone died.
- ElenaNo te preocupes, Mateo.Don't worry, Mateo.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries batería, me, sin, CC BY-SA 4.0.
