quedarse despierto
/kedaɾse despjeɾto/from spelling rules
The English phrase stay up is translated into Spanish as quedarse despierto. If unsure, use quedarse despierto. Wiktionary also lists empalmar.
Meaning: remain awake (verb)
Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA |
|---|---|
| quedarse despierto | /kedaɾse despjeɾto/ (from spelling rules) |
| empalmar | /empalˈmaɾ/ |
The phrase quedarse despierto is used to express the act of remaining awake. To express the common English idiom 'to stay up late', Spanish speakers typically use the phrase quedarse despierto hasta tarde.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the reflexive verb quedarse (to stay/remain) and the adjective despierto (awake).
Which one should you use?
While quedarse despierto is a general way to say stay awake, empalmar is a colloquial term often used when someone stays awake through the entire night into the next morning, such as pulling an all-nighter.
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective despierto must agree in gender and number with the person who is staying awake, forming quedarse despierto/a/os/as.
How do you pronounce it?
/kedaɾse despjeɾto/
Did you know?
- The colloquial term empalmar literally means 'to splice' or 'to join' two things together. In the context of staying up, it describes joining the end of one day directly to the start of the next without a break for sleep.
- In some contexts, calling someone despierto can be a compliment meaning 'clever' or 'sharp', rather than just referring to their physical state of being awake.
- The word despierto comes from the Latin expergīscor, which means 'to awaken'. This shares a root with the English word 'experience', as both involve the idea of becoming aware or waking up to a reality.
Examples in context
- No es bueno quedarse despierto hasta tarde.It's not good to stay up late at night.This sentence shows how to use quedarse despierto when talking about staying up late.Tatoeba #2160408 by Shishir, translation #1437120 by CK
- Tom dijo que iba a quedarse despierto toda la noche.Tom said that he was going to stay up all night.This sentence demonstrates using quedarse despierto to describe an intention to stay up all night.Tatoeba #8605098 by User87977, translation #6651823 by CK
- ¿Por qué es más fácil quedarse despierto hasta tarde que madrugar?Why is it easier to stay up late than to get up early?This sentence compares the ease of using quedarse despierto with staying up late versus getting up early.Tatoeba #8974759 by carlosalberto, translation #8973159 by CK
- Le invitamos a que se mantenga en vela y disfrute de la veladaWe invite you to stay up and enjoy the evening
- Vamos a quedarnos despiertos toda la noche jugando videojuegos.Let's stay up all night playing video games.
- Vamos a pasar la noche en vela viendo el partido.We're going to stay up all night watching the game.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Sources
- Wiktionary, “stay up” translations and entries empalmar, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries despierto, empalmar, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
