quedarse despierto
/kedaɾse despjeɾto/from spelling rules
To stay awake in Spanish is quedarse despierto.
The phrase is used to express the act of continuing to be awake instead of going to sleep.
How does it change in a sentence?
This phrase uses the reflexive pronoun se attached to the infinitive quedar to indicate a change or maintenance of state. The adjective despierto must agree in gender and number with the person who is staying awake: use despierto/a for a single person and despiertos/as for multiple people.
How do you pronounce it?
/kedaɾse despjeɾto/
What mistakes should you avoid?
If you want to tell someone not to fall asleep, use No se duerma in formal settings or No te duermas in informal settings rather than just focusing on staying awake.
Did you know?
- While quedarse despierto is used for staying awake, if you stay up all night without sleeping at all, you might use the phrase pasar la noche en vela, which literally means 'spending the night in vigil'.
- While 'quedarse despierto' focuses on the state of being awake, if you stay awake specifically to party or socialize, you are 'trasnochar', which turns the act into a single, dedicated verb.
- In some Latin American cultures, saying someone is despierto is a common way to praise a child's precociousness or quick wit, rather than their sleep schedule.
Examples in context
- Por favor, permanezca despierto durante la conferencia.Please stay awake during the conference.
- Manténganse despiertos hasta que finalice la reunión.Stay awake until the meeting is over.
- No se duerma durante la presentación del proyecto.Don't fall asleep during the project presentation.
- Quédate despierto y vamos a ver una película juntos.Stay awake, and let's watch a movie together.
- No te duermas durante el concierto, ¡va a ser emocionante!Don't fall asleep during the concert, it's going to be exciting!
- Mantente despierta, ya llegamos a nuestro destino.Stay awake, we've arrived at our destination.
- No puedo quedarme despierto más tiempo.I cannot stay awake any longer.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
