quédate quieto
/kedate kjeto/from spelling rules
To say 'sit still' in Spanish, you say quédate quieto.
The phrase is used to instruct someone to remain motionless.
Meaning: to remain motionless (verb)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the imperative form of quedarse (to stay/remain) and the adjective quieto (still/motionless).
Which one should you use?
While quédate quieto means to remain motionless, the phrase quédate sentado specifically means to remain in a seated position.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
In informal situations, you can say Por favor, siéntate quieto or Por favor, quédate quieto. For a formal 'please' version, you may use Por favor, siéntese quieto or Por favor, manténgase quieto to mean 'Please remain still.'
How does it change in a sentence?
If you are speaking to a female, the adjective must change to the feminine form quieta. When addressing a group of people, the phrase becomes quédense quietos (masculine/mixed) or quédense quietas (feminine).
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, ¡Quieto! is the standard command used by police or security forces to tell a suspect to 'freeze'.
- If a Spanish speaker tells a dog ¡Quieto!, they are giving the specific command 'stay', rather than telling the animal to sit.
- If you tell someone to quedarse quieto in a metaphorical sense, it can mean to 'stay out of trouble' or 'not interfere' in a situation.
Examples in context
- Siéntate y quédate quieto.Sit still.Tatoeba #4557399 by swyter, translation #2111552 by CK
- Por favor, siéntate quieto para no molestar a los demásPlease sit still so as not to disturb others
- Por favor, siéntese quieto para que podamos comenzar la lecciónPlease sit still so we can start the lesson
- ¡Bien hecho! Gracias por sentarte quietoWell done! Thank you for sitting still
- Quédate quieto mientras te tomo la foto.Stay still while I take your photo.
- Por favor, quédate quieto durante el examen.Please, stay still during the exam.
Example conversation
A mother is trying to get her son to sit for a haircut.
- SofíaMateo, quédate quieto un momento.Mateo, stay still for a moment.
- MateoEs que me pica la cabeza.It's just that my head is itchy.
- SofíaSolo un minuto más, por favor.Just one more minute, please.
- MateoEstá bien, mamá.Okay, mom.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
