¿Dónde queda?

Quedar is the verb of a thousand meanings. Let's look at some examples related to location.

¿Dónde queda?

In Spanish class you learned to ask ¿Dónde está? to inquire about the location of something. However, when talking about things with fixed locations, quedar is also common.

• Necesito ir al baño. ¿Dónde queda? Where is the bathroom?
• Disculpa, ¿dónde queda Reforma? Excuse me, where is Reforma located? (a nearby street)
• ¿Moroleón? ¿Dónde queda? Where is that city? What state is it in? What is it near?
• ¿Queda lejos? Is it far from here? (his house, the store, that city)

With the preterite an abstract subject is common. ¿Dónde quedó la libertad de expresión? What ever happened to free speech? Where did it go?

¿Te vas o te quedas?

Quedarse can be used for stay in a place.

• ¿Te vas o te quedas? Are you going to stay here longer? Or are you heading out now? Here you can see that quedarse is the opposite of irse, leave, go somewhere.
• ¿Vienes o te quedas? Are you coming?
• Aquí me quedo. I'll be here hanging out for a while longer.
• ¿Me puedo quedar en tu casa? Can I stay with you?
• Me estoy quedando en Escandón. I'm staying temporarily in the Escandón neighborhood.
• Se quedó en su casa. He stayed home. He didn't go out.
• Que este secreto se quede entre tú y yo. Let's keep this between us. Don't let the word get out.

Una quedada

Una quedada is a spinster, a woman who has waited too long to find her mate and now it's too late. She's been left behind in this sense, hence the derivation from quedar.

No me quedé en la UNAM

Quedar(se) works for earn a place/spot: being accepted into a program or advancing to the next round of a competition or audition.

• No (me) quedé en la UNAM. I didn't get into the UNAM (Mexico's largest university). Note that this doesn't mean that they didn't stay in the UNAM. It means they were not accepted.
• ¿Me estás diciendo que no (me) quedé? Are you telling me I didn't make the group?