Quedar bien
Wed, Mar 9, 2016
Quedar bien means make a good impression.
- Quiero quedar bien con los suegros. I want the in-laws to like me when they meet me.
- No quiero quedar mal. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot.
As you can see from these examples, quedar bien and quedar mal usually have to do with first impressions. However, I have also heard them used in the context of an existing relationship, in which case the idea would be closer to get on someone's good/bad side.
¿Te queda bien?
¿Te queda bien? means Does it fit you?
- Me queda bien. It fits me well.
- Me queda. This shirt fits. You can see from this example that bien is optional.
- Me queda chica. This shirt is small on me. As you can see, the grammatical subject here is camisa, hence chica and not chico.
- Me quedan flojos. Me quedan guangos. They're loose on me.
As you can see from these examples, the reference is usually to clothing. However, quedar also works for fit more broadly. Este pueblo me queda chico. This town is too small for me.
In the context of cooking, ¿Qué te queda bien? would mean: What dish are you good at making? What turns out well when you make it? What do you know how to make?
¿Te queda claro?
Quedarle claro means be understood (by someone). Here are some examples.
- ¿Te queda claro? Are you clear on this? Or is there something you don't understand?
- No me queda claro. I'm still confused about something. Can you clarify it?
- Espero que te quede bien claro. I trust I've made myself perfectly clear.
Quedar can be used alone with the same meaning: ¿Quedó? Do you get it? Do you understand?
Ya quedó
Ya quedó is used to say that a task has been completed and the result is ready.
- Ya quedó. I've finished mopping the floor. The floor is done.
- — ¿Ya están mis pantalones? Are my pants ready?
— Ya quedaron. Here you go. They're ready. I washed them just as you asked. This example shows that the subject of quedar is not the task itself but rather the product. - Quedó bonito, ¿no? It turned out nicely, don't you think. A house painter said this about his work.
- Quedó bien. The photo turned out great. It looks great.
- (Te) quedó padrísimo el lugar. Wow, you did a great job fixing the place up.
- Quedastes bien feo. Look what they did to you. They really did a number of you. They beat you up. You look awful. (This is movie dialogue. Recall that quedastes is non-standard. The expected form is quedaste.)